Before the Pittsburgh Steelers' Week 9 upset win over the Indianapolis Colts, fans were pushing for Alex Highsmith to see a decline role on defense. This had less to do with Highsmith's performance halfway through the 2025 season and more to do with the phenomenal (albeit part-time play) of Nick Herbig.
Herbig had a career game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 6 when he recorded two sacks and six pressures in a convincing defensive performance. One week later, the 23-year-old edge rusher had another dominant outing, but saw his snap count decrease against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Herbig looks like a star in the making; there's no denying that. But Highsmith just showed that he was sick of getting overlooked for the younger and often flashier outside linebacker.
In Week 9, Highsmith made the most of every opportunity. On 34 pass rush snaps (48 total snaps), Highsmith collected four pressures on quarterback Daniel Jones while earning a pair of sacks. One of these was a strip sack that was recovered by rookie defensive tackle Derrick Harmon.
Highsmith also had a diving pass break-up on a big third-and-three, while collecting three run stops. The starting edge rusher was also credited with zero missed tackles.
This impressive performance led Highsmith to earn a 90.6 overall grade from PFF in Week 9. This was the highest of any player from either team—offense or defense—in the Steelers vs. Colts game. It was also the highest-graded game since Week 16 of the 2023 season against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Pittsburgh Steelers need to continue deploying a healthy rotation of edge rushers
There seems to be a correlation between the games in which Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt are asked to play too many snaps and their overall performances. When Highsmith is a full-time edge rusher who hardly leaves the field, he's not as efficient on a per-play basis. However, when the Steelers are deploying a healthy EDGE rotation, like they did against the Colts, good things happen.
Highsmith proved that he doesn't need to be replaced by Nick Herbig. Rather, the Steelers just need to find the right blend of snap counts between their four edge rushers—that includes rookie Jack Sawyer, who had another nice game in Week 9.
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In the win over the Colts, Watt saw 60 defensive snaps while Highsmith played 48, Herbig played 40, and Sawyer played 21. This is a much better split than we have seen in recent weeks. Keeping your edge rushers fresh is the key to maintaining a great and consistent pass rush.
This shouldn't be a 'Highsmith versus Herbig' discussion; it should be a 'Highsmith plus Herbig' conversation. Iron sharpens iron, and that's exactly what's happening here. It was nice to see Alex Highsmith completely flip the narrative in Week 9.