This is the fourth in a series on the Steelers' roster as the team prepares to report to training camp at Saint Vincent College July 23. Today: Outside linebacker
Outside Linebackers: T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, Jeremiah Moon, Jack Sawyer, Julius Welschof, Eku Leota
When Pro Football Focus ranked its top 32 edge rushers in the NFL recently, the list included three Steelers, T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig.
And that wasn't a stretch.
Watt remains one of the top edge rushers in the NFL and is as solid against the run as he is rushing the passer.
Highsmith, meanwhile, would be the top edge rusher on well over half the teams in the NFL, and Herbig's production as the team's third outside linebacker easily places him in that group of 32.
The Steelers got 24.5 sacks and 36 tackles for a loss out of their outside linebacker group as a whole in 2024, but given how the defense is set up to operate, those numbers need to be higher.
Watt's sack production dropped off overall in 2024, from a league-best 19 in 2023 to 11.5 in 2024, but the fact that is considered a "down" year for Watt shows just how dominant he has been.
His sack total in 2024 still ranked as the 18th-most for a Steelers defender in a single season since the sack became an official statistic in 1982.
He also led the NFL with six forced fumbles, giving him 33 since his first season in 2017, easily the most in the league over that span.
Highsmith, meanwhile, was limited by an ankle injury in 2024 to 11 games, but still had 6.0 sacks and nine tackles for a loss, one more than he had in a full season in 2023. Like Watt, he has become a premium player setting the edge against the run.
Herbig isn't as stout as a run defender as Watt or Highsmith, but despite playing just 415 defensive snaps, he had 5.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and five tackles for a loss despite missing four games because of injury.
Jeremiah Moon proved to be a valuable special teams player in 2024, including blocking one of the three kicks the Steelers got to last season.
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The Steelers selected former Ohio State star Jack Sawyer in the fourth round of the draft to provide even more depth on the outside. And if he develops as the team hopes, perhaps he'll join Watt, Highsmith and Herbig on the top edge rushers list.
Sawyer had 59 tackles and nine sacks for the national champions last season, and played his best in the college football playoffs, recording 4.5 sacks in Ohio State's run to the title.
German native Julius Welschof returns for a second season with the Steelers after spending part of the 2024 on the team's practice squad. He initially joined the team last season as part of the NFL's International Player Pathway Program.
The Steelers also have second-year pro Eku Leota on the roster after he signed a futures contract following spending the 2024 season on practice squads of the Panthers and Steelers. Leota had seven sacks for Auburn in his final collegiate season in 2022 and has appeared in 11 career games, making nine tackles with one sack.
