Steelers Now
UNITY TWP, Pa. – Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt had a bit of a down year in 2024, registering the third least sacks in a season (11.5) in his career. The other two seasons were his rookie year (seven sacks) and 2022 (5.5 sacks) when he played in just 10 games due to a knee injury. Coupled with injuries last season, Watt was slowed down due to teams scheming against him since he doesn’t switch sides. That could change this year.
“That’s something that this time of year is perfect for us, to move around, to get comfortable,” Watt said on Wednesday at St. Vincent College. “It’s not about winning every single rep and having to be on the left side and having to get everything mastered on the left side. It’s about trying new things and moving around.
“We have so much depth, especially at the outside linebacker position with [Nick] Herbig, too, who’s a more than capable pass rusher. I’m sure we’ll have some cool packages and some new stuff for you guys to see.”
Alex Highsmith, who starts at outside linebacker on the right side, agrees with Watt. The defense has to change things up this year and not be as predictable.
“Just throwing different looks at guys,” Highsmith said. “I know he’s primarily left, I’m primarily right. I think we’ve just got to throw different looks at teams and stuff like that, and I know we’re going to try and work on that during camp. We’ll see how that goes.”
Watt also wants the defense to get back to Steelers football. The Baltimore Ravens ran up and down the field on the Steelers in the Wild Card game last January. The Steelers simply had no answer for the Ravens’ read-option attack with Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. To say the least, getting embarrassed by a division rival has not sat well with the Steelers this offseason.
“It’s getting back to being a really hard-nosed football team, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” Watt said. “It’s setting hard goals and sticking to them. Teams need to know what is coming when they see the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Not to say they haven’t seen it in the past or we haven’t taken pride in it, but it’s something we can talk more openly about as a goal for our defensive unit and holding ourselves accountable.”
“We can sit here and talk and talk about not winning a playoff game, and how much I want to do it,” Watt added, “but at the end of the day, it’s just lip service. It’s about what we do, and that’s why I’m excited to be back here.”
Alan Saunders and Brendan Howe provided reporting from St. Vincent College.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: T.J. Watt Hints at Big Changes on Steelers Defense in 2025
