All Steelers

Steelers Should Already Be Thinking Edge Rusher in 2023 NFL Draft

The Pittsburgh Steelers could already see the future, and it's telling them to add a pass-rusher.

Derrick Bell

In this story:

Way-too-early mock draft season is upon us, which, for most of us, is just a "watch list" of collegiate players to keep an eye on in the Fall. But oddly enough, there's one position of need that continues getting overlooked for the Pittsburgh Steelers - edge rusher. 

The Steelers selecting one early in the 2023 NFL Draft may prove to be a very intelligent decision. 

As we sit here today, is Edge really their biggest need?

It's hard to argue that as the case when the Pittsburgh is the home to arguably the NFL's best defensive player in T.J. Watt. His running mate and former third-round pick, Alex Highsmith, is also a quality starting caliber edge rusher heading into year three of his rookie deal. 

Highsmith took a jump in his first year as a starter for the black and gold, registering a 12.1% pressure rate which was the second high on the unit.

Watt is under team control for the next four seasons following his massive contract extension last summer. Highsmith enters the season with two more years left on his rookie deal. For the next two seasons, this duo will more than likely be the catalyst to what Pittsburgh hopes is a dominant defense. But what about after that?

Does Alex Highsmith stay or go?

The idea behind investing a premier selection at the position is less about necessarily replacing Highsmith as the starter but more about what's to come in the future. Highsmith really came on towards the end of the season after being banged up in the first half as he finished his sophomore campaign with six sacks. While his numbers weren't gaudy by any means, he was a very solid contributor in year two. You could argue that his box score stats don't tell the full story of how active he was as a pass rusher as he also drew five holding penalties which lead the Steelers.

This isn't breaking news, but edge rushers get paid on the open market. The NFL loves pass rushers that can collapse the pocket and Highsmith's has quite the bag of pass rush moves already at his disposal. It's expected that he'll take yet another jump in year three, his second as a starter, which could lead to speculation that he could price himself out of Pittsburgh in 2024.

Bud Dupree, who's a freakier athlete with first-round pedigree, took a lot longer to break out as a pro but the Steelers chose not to retain him past the franchise tag. That decision likely had a lot to do with needing to lock up Watt while Heyward and Tuitt were both already inked to size-able contracts. 

Since then, the Steelers have made another major investment on that side of the football, making Minkah Fitzpatrick the highest paid safety in football. In this business with a salary cap involved, you simply can't pay everyone which could lead Highsmith to the open market where he would undoubtedly have plenty of suitors. 

Where is the depth going to come from, if not the NFL Draft?

Even with both starting outside linebackers recording a significant number of snaps on a weekly basis, they can't be out there every snap. Signing Melvin Ingram last summer was seen as a huge win for a team that really needed depth, and getting an experienced pass rusher on the cheap is rare in free agency, even at his age. However, the relationship crumbled as Ingram requested a trade and no longer wanted to be in Pittsburgh given his lack of playing time.

The Steelers are hardly big players in the free agency market and we got a glimpse of some of their concerns as to why last season. Head coach Mike Tomlin explained the situation following Ingram's eventual dismissal to Kansas City by stating "and that's really culturally why we build our team through the draft. When you do business with guys from the time they are 20 and 21, you get an opportunity to be part of their growth and development. They get an opportunity to buy into your system of ball and their roles in it from a very young age." 

Tomlin wants volunteers, not hostages, and as we saw last year, it's sometimes difficult to integrate veteran egos into the mix and expect everything to gel naturally.

Currently, the 2022 Pittsburgh Steelers are in a worse spot depth wise than their predecessors. The players competing for depth spots behind the starter are certainly less than ideal. Genard Avery is a bit of a tweener who's spent some time inside the AFC North with Cleveland early on in his career. Derrek Tuszka was given a chance to play last season but was ineffective, registering just six pressures on his 96 pass rushing attempts. 

It was rather surprising that the Steelers didn't opt to select an edge rusher during the 2022 NFL Draft considering how loaded it was from top to bottom. Now, they find themselves in a familiar and rather uncomfortable situation especially if one of the starters misses any amount of time due to injuries.

What does the 2023 edge class look like? 

Fortunately for the Steelers, the 2023 edge class looks rather stacked, once again. There's already a half dozen players that I've seen that could cement their first-round status in the fall with strong campaigns. 

Every lists begins with two names: Alabama's Will Anderson and Clemson's Myles Murphy. Anderson is a freak of nature that plays 100 miles per hour every rep despite being the most natural talented player on the field at all times. Murphy is an absolute tank, weighing in at 275 pounds and was a dominant run defender from the second that he stepped foot on campus as a freshman.

No longer a sleeper among the draft community, Army's Andre Carter has a refined tool kit of moves already as he's coming off a 14.5 sack season. 

Kansas State's Felix Anudike-Uzomah is one of the more well rounded players in the class, already a stout run defender plus he has a combination of bend and length to transform into a truly impressive pass rusher. 

Georgia's Nolan Smith was the number one recruit coming out of high school in 2019. An unbelievable athlete that's still trying to refine his pass rushing plan but if he puts it together this season, he'll have his name called early come April.

One of my personal favorite watches thus far has been Notre Dame's Isaiah Foskey. A playmaker in every sense of the word, Foskey forced six fumbles last season while accumulating double digit sacks for the Irish defense. He displays the ability to convert speed to power and is an impressive hand technician, utilizing a number of different long arms, swipes and rips to win as a pass rusher. 

How does the plan all come together?

If Pittsburgh was to spend a day one or day two selection on a pass rusher in next year's NFL Draft, it helps the team in both the short and long term. 

In the short term, you have a quality, talented third pass rusher next season to come in and give the starters a breather. It also gives the team quality depth in the event of an injury. It's possible that Teryl Austin could also implement some three outside linebacker, subpackage looks, similar to what the Steelers envisioned with Watt, Highsmith and Ingram all on the field last season.

In the long term, the Steelers would protect themselves in the event that Highsmith prices himself out should he continue on an upward trajectory in the next two seasons. Having invested so much money into Watt, the Steelers could benefit from a rookie scale contract across the line of scrimmage. Having a strong counterpart is important for the defense as it will reduce the number of double and sometimes triple teams that the star edge rusher will have to face.

The outside linebacker position is the most important position in the 3-4 defense and that has been the case for many great Steelers units over the years. In order to maintain that tradition, Pittsburgh must continue to invest heavily throughout the NFL Draft. 

Their defense depends on it. 

Make sure you bookmark All Steelers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!

Steelers Roster Projection: New Faces Win Jobs at RB, WR

Kenny Pickett Addresses Early Struggles at Training Camp

10 Players Who Impressed at Steelers Training Camp

Steelers QB Notebook: Kenny Pickett Takes Step Up in Competition

Steelers Add Two More to Injury List

Published
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. 

Home/AllSteelers+