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Film Room: Has Alex Highsmith Filled the Void of Bud Dupree?

It hasn't been flashy for Pittsburgh Steelers second-year linebacker Alex Highsmith, but what do the numbers and the tape say?

Derrick Bell

When Bud Dupree expectedly left town to sign with the Tennessee Titans in the offseason, it signaled that it was Alex Highsmith's time to shine. Dupree had just gone from being labeled as a bust to a fan favorite in just a matter of a couple seasons. However, with the Pittsburgh Steelers. front office making the obvious decision to prioritize T.J. Watt in the offseason, the writing was on the wall. 

Enter Alex Highsmith.

A third-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, Highsmith saw extended time once Dupree unfortunately suffered a season-ending injury against the Baltimore Ravens in week 12. 

He would go on to finish his rookie campaign with 2 sacks, 48 total tackles and 25 pressures on the quarterback. Pretty respectable numbers for a rookie who was primarily a depth piece for the majority of the year. 

Then, the 2021 preseason happened. 

A second year leap seemed out of the question. This had the look of a vault into stardom. It seems many moons ago now but the Steelers defense really clicked in the preseason, and while there was no Watt, it had the look of a unit capable of taking a team the distance. 

The craziest part of all, was that the second-year edge from Charlotte looked like their best player. On a defense with Pro Bowlers such as Cameron Heyward and Minkah Fitzpatrick, Highsmith outshined them all. He was simply unblockable. It seemed as if he was in the backfield before the ball was even snapped. 

Naturally, expectations rose to higher levels. Highsmith unfortunately fell victim to the multitude of groin injuries in the Steelers' locker room, missing Week 3's matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. Before exiting the game a week prior, Highsmith flashed a bit on tape, despite the stat lines for first couple weeks, appearing fairly mundane.

Even after returning in Week 4 against the Green Bay Packers, Highsmith wasn't much of a factor in the contest. It wasn't until Sunday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks where he would have his first real breakout game as a professional. 

He would play every snap of the game, finishing with 1.5 sacks and 4 hits on Geno Smith. Smith's blindside protector, Duane Brown has been a good tackle in this league for a long time but he had no answers on this night.  

After a bit of a slow start while dealing with the groin injury, Highsmith has quietly been playing solid football of late, off the edge. His numbers are probably better than most people even realize. 

Let's compare Highsmith's first year as a starter to Dupree's final season in Pittsburgh that netted him a five-year, $82.5 million dollar contract:

Dupree:
343 pass rushing snaps
8 sacks
2.3% sack rate
45 total pressures
13.6% pressure rate

Highsmith:
257 pass rushing snaps
3 sacks
1.2% sack rate
29 total pressures
12.0% pressure rate

As the numbers indicate, Dupree was able to convert a high-percentage of his pressures into sacks, which is helpful to any defense. After all, in today's fantasy football version of the NFL, sacks are one of the most reliable ways to help get your unit off of the field. 

While pressures don't garner as much attention on the surface, they're actually a better indicator of future success. Simply put, the more that someone is around the quarterback, the better odds they have at converting. 

Pressures may not effectively end drives the same way that sacks do but pressure on any quarterback is a helpful tool to create turnovers. If you look across the league, you see a drastic numerical difference between signal-callers operating in clean pockets versus operating under duress. 

Highsmith clearly wasn't 100% early on but his pressure numbers are actually higher than the 11.0% pressure rate that Dupree registered in 2019 during a breakout season that led to him being franchise tagged in 2020. 

I don't necessarily think it's a one-for-one swap between the two players, which is unrealistic given the drastic difference in experience. For instance, even before Dupree really broke onto the scene as a pass rusher, he was always a plus run defender on the edge. 

Stopping the run has been a bit of a work in progress for Highsmith but there have certainly been enough flashes to give you hope that he'll continue to improve with game reps. 

Highsmith was known for having a motor that ran hot and was a fairly refined pass rusher coming out of Charlotte, someone that clearly works on his craft to improve his tool box over time. If you asked him what his favorite move is, he would probably answer the spin move. He's got enough juice to beat tackles with speed and set up his counter moves off of that. 

To say that the Steelers defense is struggling would be an understatement, but I would challenge that notion that the drop-off from Dupree to Highsmith is very high on the list of reasons why. 

Despite the raw sack numbers, Highsmith has performed up to the standard when healthy. Highsmith will have a six-game stretch to prove to ownership that he can be the guy opposite Watt for the next couple of years. 

Don't be surprised when those pressures start transforming into sacks. 

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Derrick Bell
DERRICK BELL

Derrick Bell is a University of Louisville grad who's covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2019. Prior to AllSteelers, Derrick contributed to Steel City Blitz. 

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