{"id":213102,"date":"2026-06-07T15:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T15:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/213102\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T15:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T15:12:09","slug":"pittsburghs-three-outside-linebacker-plan-could-face-a-roadblock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/213102\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh’s Three Outside Linebacker Plan Could Face A Roadblock"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even before Nick Herbig\u2019s mega-contract extension, there was no question the Pittsburgh Steelers planned to use three EDGE rusher packages featuring T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Herbig himself. Herbig\u2019s new deal only reinforces the idea. Pittsburgh has confidently stated their goal to utilize all three as impact players and get proper return on their large contracts.<\/p>\n

Best=laid plans of mice and men, they say. That\u2019s certainly Pittsburgh\u2019s intent. Health of the group might get in the way.<\/p>\n

That goes beyond the obvious notion of any player can get hurt at any time. For all the talent Watt, Highsmith, and Herbig have, their availability has been their worst trait. Missing time has become an expectation.<\/p>\n

Watt\u2019s 2025 absence was through no fault of his own thanks a misplaced needle in a recovery session<\/a> that knocked him out for three games. He played in all 17 games in 2023 and 2024 but battled through injuries. Thumb and ankle issues bothered him and played a role in the quiet finish to the latter season. In 2022, Watt tore his pec and missed half the season, returned, and then gutted out bruised ribs.<\/p>\n

Turning 32 midseason, Watt is no guarantee to suit up wire-to-wire. His violent play style, an all-out defender against the run, is what\u2019s made him so good, but it beats his body up even more. All the chips and double-teams he sees does him no favors, either.<\/p>\n

Highsmith hasn\u2019t avoided soft tissue injuries. Summer groin pulls have become recurring despite his best efforts to maintain pliability.<\/a> Those have bled into the regular season, missing time in 2024 because of one. Last year, he missed part of camp with a groin injury, sprained his ankle in Week Two, and got hit with a pec injury late in the year. In 2024 and 2025 combined, he\u2019s played in just 24 of a combined 34 regular season games.<\/p>\n

Over Herbig\u2019s three seasons, he\u2019s played a full slate of 17 games just once. His rookie year. In 2024, he missed four games and sat out two last season. A high ankle sprain in last year\u2019s preseason finale forced him to miss the opener. He later missed another game with a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n

Jack Sawyer is no slouch, and he enjoyed a fine rookie season. Still, unless he breaks out and transforms his style as a sophomore, his calling card is his strength and run defense. Not a threatening pass rusher. He won\u2019t be an ideal substitute in these packages.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh entered 2025 with the plan of deploying Watt, Highsmith, and Herbig. Those chances turned few. All three shared the field together for just eight games, less than 50 percent, and injuries cut that short, too. Highsmith lasted just 10 snaps into Week 2 before bowing out.<\/p>\n

By Dave Bryan\u2019s count, they were on the field together for just 37 snaps \u2013 roughly 3 percent of the time. That shelved the team\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n

A new coaching staff could add personnel wrinkles to increase those numbers. Actually seeing that vision on the field will only come to fruition if health allows. The track record isn\u2019t great.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even before Nick Herbig\u2019s mega-contract extension, there was no question the Pittsburgh Steelers planned to use three EDGE…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[7664,3285,73,75,74,1833,3284,995],"class_list":["post-213102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-alex-highsmith","tag-nick-herbig","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-t-j-watt","tag-trending"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}