Alex Highsmith reveals upcoming change in Steelers' defense that is sure to make T.J. Watt's life a lot easier going forward
At some point, even players as dominant as T.J. Watt hit a wall. If you watched him down the stretch of the 2024 season, you saw that Watt just didn't have the same juice. This was reflected in his impact, as Watt didn't record a sack in the final month of the season and didn't […]
At some point, even players as dominant as T.J. Watt hit a wall.
If you watched him down the stretch of the 2024 season, you saw that Watt just didn't have the same juice. This was reflected in his impact, as Watt didn't record a sack in the final month of the season and didn't register a single stat against the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs.
And while some of that was due to a lingering ankle injury, the Pittsburgh Steelers did little to help Watt, something that Alex Highsmith expects to change in 2025…
Steelers to move Watt around the defense in 2025?
“Yeah, I think [switching spots] is something we definitely got to include in the game, because, just like you said, teams were kind of catching on to what we were doing,” Steelers outside linebacker Alex Highsmith told Pittsburgh media at OTAs last week. “If we’re able to move around to different spots and stuff like that, we’ll be able to get teams off balance — and they can’t just sit there and max protect.”
It may seem trivial, but if you're an offensive coordinator, and you know that T.J. Watt not only predominantly, but some games exclusively, lines up over your right tackle, you're job just got much easier.
Now, as Highsmith alluded to, teams can just max protect, giving their tackles help against both Highsmith and Watt, and daring the Steelers' interior pass rush to get home. Not to mention, if you're a left tackle playing the Steelers, the whole week you're preparing to take on Alex Highsmith. The thought of having to pass protect against T.J. Watt never even crosses your mind.
And that was all the Steelers' fault. Sure, Watt prefers one side of the ball. But I would venture to say he also prefers getting sacks and winning football games. That is a much easier task when you have more tricks up your sleeve, more cards in your deck, more fronts and looks to show opposing offenses.
It's worth a shot. Because when a player who once tied the single season sack record comes up empty down the last month of the season, it's time to figure some things out.
