It’s fair to say that the Pittsburgh Steelers have had a fair amount of turnover at the outside linebacker position. Of the six players who spent time on the 53-man roster last season from that group, three are now gone, with two of them—six-year starter Bud Dupree and three-year reserve Olasunkanmi Adeniyi—leaving in free agency. Jayrone Elliott has spent time with the team in recent years, and is also currently not on the roster.
While the team has the good fortune of having arguably the best defensive player in the game at outside linebacker in T.J. Watt, they are also counting on second-year Alex Highsmith, a small-school third-rounder, to step up full-time.