4 Pittsburgh Steelers who could impress or disappoint us in 2021

EDGE Alex Highsmith

It’s not uncommon for a player to impress in a limited role as a rookie only to find out that he’s not the great player everyone thought he was going to be. I really hope this doesn’t happen with edge defender, Alex Highsmith.

As a rookie, the Pittsburgh Steelers can’t ask for any more than what they got out of their third-round pick. As a former college walk-on at Charlotte, Highsmith has fought tooth and nail to work his way up the ladder. His effort ultimately resulted in him becoming an NFL starter for one of the league’s best defenses. However, there’s now a lot of pressure on the young edge rusher.

At several points in the draft, the Steelers had a chance to select a quality, young edge defender who could have come in and competed with Highsmith for Bud Dupree’s old role as the starting right outside linebacker. However, Pittsburgh elected to ignore the position until they took Miami’s Quincy Roche in the sixth round.

The Steelers also narrowly missed out on landing former Pro Bowl pass rusher Ryan Kerrigan this offseason. His addition to the team could have found him splitting time with Highsmith on the edge. As it stands, Alex Highsmith is set to see a massive uptick in snaps this year as a full-time starter. He will either make fans forget about Bud Dupree or leave them wanting the Steelers to draft an edge defender early in 2022.