5 talented Steelers who are not yet deserving of Pro Bowl honors

Steelers EDGE Alex Highsmith

Alex Highsmith is one of the most likable players on the Steelers. The former college walk-on at Charlotte has climbed the ranks to become a quality starter for Pittsburgh and he has grossly outplayed his mid-third-round draft status.

However, that doesn’t automatically mean that he deserves to be a Pro Bowler this year. In fact, I would argue that it’s incredibly hard to make a case for him, considering all of the circumstances.

Though the first four games of the season, Melvin Ingram consumed much of the workload in the edge defender rotation. Highsmith played just 42.5 snaps per game during this span and didn’t record a single sack or quarterback split from his part-time role.

While Highsmith has cranked it up a notch recently, he still has just 3.0 sacks and 7 tackles for a loss on the season. When you consider elite AFC edge defenders like Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt, Maxx Crosby as well as others having excellent years like Matt Judon, Harold Landry, and Trey Hendrickson, there’s almost no case to be made for Higsmith as a Pro Bowler in 2021.