6 Steelers who have major questions to answer in Week 1 vs. Bills

Steelers Defensive Lineman Alex Highsmith

Easily one of, if not the biggest camp winners for the Steelers, Alex Highsmith enters this season with extremely high expectations. While many were expecting a good year from the second-year player, no one was expecting the jump he seemingly made. Highsmith was nearly unblockable in camp, as both Steelers’ tackles and tackles from the opposing team were consistently losing to him in pass-rushing reps.

The team had signed Melvin Ingram as insurance, but it appears as though they may not need it with how Highsmith has been playing. That all said, he now has to show that his improvements in camp will translate to the field.

There have been countless times where a player did well in camp only to disappear once the regular season began. While Highsmith arguably had the best camp of any Pittsburgh player in recent history, he still has to prove that he can translate that onto gameday.

His first test will be the Bills, who boast a good-not-great offensive line. With the Steelers having a capable edge threat across from him, expect Highsmith to thrive. If not, then perhaps his camp was more a flash in the pan than anything else.

I expect the opposite, though, as Highsmith was impressive as a rookie and the expectation should be that he makes the jump to quality NFL starter this season.