Outside linebacker Alex Highsmith was pressed into starting duty as a rookie in 2020 when Bud Dupree tore his ACL. His performance was strong enough to give Pittsburgh Steelers coaches confidence in him to be the opening-day starter opposite T.J. Watt.

But many NFL draft pundits werent so convinced and many had edge rusher among the teams top draft needs this year, even going so far as to mock an edge to the Steelers in the first round. Highsmith said this motivated him to work even harder in the offseason.

My thoughts? Whatever it takes. Highsmith has some big shoes to fill so anything he can pull from to help get him there is fine by me. Highsmith only had one sack in his five starts, but the Steelers did very little to address the position in the offseason aside from sixth-round pick Quincy Roche.

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Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith used NFL draft experts as motivation - Steelers Wire