There was a lot of hype around the Pittsburgh Steelers defense entering 2025. Players and coaches, including Mike Tomlin, threw around the word, “historic” when discussing what the unit could be.
Obviously, it wasn’t. If anything, it was historically bad. The Steelers finished 26th in yards allowed, which was their lowest overall defensive ranking since 1988.
But edge rusher Alex Highsmith is holding onto hope the Steelers defense can be “historic” (in the good way) in 2026. One thing has to be much different, though, according to the veteran — the defense’s consistency.
“There’s some games that we absolutely dominated, and there’s some games we played like a bottom-of-the-league defense,” Highsmith told Jon Gruden on his Barstool show, via Steelers Depot’s Matthew Marczi. “We just weren’t consistent enough.
“I feel like we do have the players to be an elite defense, a legendary defense. We’ve just got to put it all together.
“It just starts with in practice, communication, details and whatnot.”
One could argue Highsmith actually put his teammates on notice in two different ways with those comments. First, he hyped his unit again as a potentially “legendary” defense. But only if the Steelers defenders all put in the work and grow together because last year wasn’t good enough.
In addition to 26th in yards allowed, the Steelers were 17th in points allowed during 2025. Pittsburgh’s defense was 29th against the pass and 13th versus the run.
The Steelers excelled the most at taking the ball away. They finished fourth in takeaways during 2025.
Steelers Defense Must Be Better in Most Areas
The best example of how the Pittsburgh defense was inconsistent last season was in its rushing yards allowed statistics.
The Steelers allowed four different opponents to run for at least 142 rushing yards in a game last season. Two of those opponents, the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens, rushed for 215-plus yards.
But the Steelers run defense also had terrific games. Like holding Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts to only 55 rushing yards. In Week 16, Jahmyr Gibbs and the Detroit Lions had 15 rushing yards.
The stark contrast in Pittsburgh run defense directly correlated to rookie defensive lineman Derrick Harmon.
When Harmon played, the Steelers allowed about 91 yards on the ground per game. When he didn’t, which was five times during 2025, the Steelers yielded 165.6 rushing yards per contest.
Still, it wasn’t all Harmon. Without him, Pittsburgh shut down the Miami Dolphins running game in Week 15. And with him, they gave up 142 rushing yards to the Cincinnati Bengals in October, which at the time, had the worst running game in the league.
Even with Harmon, the Steelers couldn’t consistently stop the run in 2025. That led to a lot of their defensive problems in their subpar performances.
Alex Highsmith Excited to Work With New Steelers DC Patrick Graham
Highsmith’s comments come at an interesting time — just before free agency. What he said isn’t going to change the organization’s plan in free agency.
But clearly, Highsmith let it be known, to his current teammates and anyone the Steelers add on defense, Pittsburgh has to be more consistent on that side of the ball in 2026.
More than likely, a lot of the team’s defenders from 2025 will be back next season. But there will be someone new in charge — defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
Highsmith addressed Graham as well with Gruden.
“I’m excited to work with Patrick Graham and get to know him,” Highsmith told Gruden. “We have all the pieces. We’ve shown flashes of that, but it’s about putting it together week after week after week.
“Not only just creating turnovers but also getting off the field and taking away long drives.”
Since 2019, Graham has served as a defensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders. He’s never led a top 10 defense, but most pundits have argued Graham has also never had a unit with as much talent as Pittsburgh does.
Highsmith put it best — it will be about Graham, and the Steelers defenders, bringing it all together to be more consistent in 2026.
Alex Highsmith Puts Steelers Teammates on Notice Just Before Free Agency