{"id":794928,"date":"2026-03-06T00:21:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T00:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/794928\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T00:21:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T00:21:18","slug":"cool-things-cooking-up-once-again-the-steelers-plan-to-move-t-j-watt-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/794928\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Cool Things Cooking Up’: Once Again, The Steelers Plan To Move T.J. Watt Around"},"content":{"rendered":"

T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith have been one of the best pass rusher duos in the NFL for years. However, they felt less impactful in 2025. Perhaps that\u2019s because the Pittsburgh Steelers don\u2019t move them around the defense very much.<\/a> That allows teams to key in and use schematics to limit them. Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden recently asked Highsmith about that, and the edge rusher expressed confidence that he and Watt will move around more in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I\u2019m more comfortable on the right, T.J.\u2019s [Watt] more comfortable on the left,\u201d Highsmith said on Gruden\u2019s YouTube channel.<\/a> \u201cBut I think we did a good job this year. We had a three outside backer package in with Nick [Herbig] as well. I know we\u2019re gonna try and work that in more because teams are game planning, especially if we stay in the same spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think we\u2019re gonna have some cool things cooking up, whether we switch sides, there were a few plays where I was lined up inside this year. We\u2019ve got a lot of versatility, but you\u2019re right, teams do game plan with us being in the same spot\u2026 We\u2019ve gotta practice it more, too. If we practice it, we\u2019ll be more comfortable with it, instead of just going out there in the game and doing it. I\u2019m excited to work on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Steelers have talked about moving Watt and Highsmith around for years. It feels like this conversation happens every offseason. However, 2025 felt like the year when the team was finally going to use its pass rushers more creatively<\/p>\n

However, that didn\u2019t happen. Watt and Highsmith\u2019s alignment was basically the same<\/a> as it had always been. While the Steelers\u2019 started using a package that got Watt, Herbig and Highsmith on the field at the same time, that isn\u2019t an adequate substitute for moving them around.<\/p>\n

That was especially true because all three of those players dealt with injuries in 2025. That made their three-outside-linebacker package less effective.<\/p>\n

Highsmith had a solid year, posting 9.5 sacks in 13 games. However, Watt\u2019s production took a noticeable decline. While he was still very good, he only had seven sacks in 14 games. It was clear that teams were scheming him out of games and minimizing his impact.<\/p>\n

Moving Watt and Highsmith around could be a solution to that problem. Watt has expressed a willingness to move around the defense, too, so it\u2019s confusing why the Steelers haven\u2019t done it more.<\/p>\n

Highsmith believes that will change this year, but the Steelers did this song and dance before. They can\u2019t just talk in the offseason<\/a> about moving players around. Actions speak louder than words.<\/p>\n

Perhaps things will be different in 2026, though. The Steelers\u2019 coaching staff underwent a major overhaul this offseason. That includes Patrick Graham coming in as defensive coordinator. He\u2019s done more with less in recent years, so maybe he\u2019ll be able to squeeze more out of the Steelers\u2019 talented defensive players. They\u2019ve invested too much into that unit for it to struggle like last year.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith have been one of the best pass rusher duos in the NFL for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[6310,7,3925,6,520,57,2360,426,5226],"class_list":["post-794928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-alex-highsmith","tag-football","tag-jon-gruden","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-pittsburghsteelers","tag-steelers","tag-t-j-watt"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116179375731327124","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}