{"id":5487,"date":"2024-09-29T08:24:30","date_gmt":"2024-09-29T08:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=5487"},"modified":"2024-09-29T08:24:30","modified_gmt":"2024-09-29T08:24:30","slug":"steelers-pushed-to-sign-former-first-round-talent-after-alex-highsmith-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=5487","title":{"rendered":"Steelers Pushed to Sign Former First-Round Talent After Alex Highsmith Injury.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Shaq-Lawson-e1727531803380.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Shaq-Lawson-e1727531803380.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Shaq-Lawson-e1727531803380.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Shaq-Lawson-e1727531803380.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Ex-Bills pass rusher Shaq Lawson.\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" data-img-load-time=\"783\" data-dom-ready-time=\"799\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span>An NFL writer suggested that the Pittsburgh Steelers sign free agent pass rusher Shaq Lawson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0lost pass rusher\u00a0Alex Highsmith to a groin injury\u00a0in Week 3, and although the team has\u00a0yet to place\u00a0the outside linebacker on the injured reserve, they could still bring in a veteran reinforcement to help cover for him while he\u2019s out.<\/p>\n<p>On September 27,\u00a0Bleacher Report\u2019s Kristopher Knox suggested\u00a0former long-time\u00a0Buffalo Bills\u00a0edge rusher\u00a0Shaq Lawson\u00a0as a \u201clogical\u201d addition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith\u00a0Yannick Ngakoue\u00a0recently joining the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens, Shaq Lawson has become a top option for teams in need of pass-rushing help,\u201d Knox wrote. \u201cLawson hasn\u2019t delivered impressive statistics\u00a0since the 2019 season (6.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss), but he has shown an ability to contribute as a rotational player.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the Buffalo Bills last season, he tallied a sack, 10 quarterback pressures and two tackles for loss while playing just 33 percent of the defensive snaps,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe 30-year-old has recorded at least 3.5 sacks in five of his eight seasons, most recently in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According\u00a0to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers insider Gerry Dulac, Highsmith is expected to \u201cmiss 2-3 games\u201d following the groin injury. But any surprise IR designation ahead of Week 4 would signal a minimum four-game absence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Steelers may not need to add a free agent during Highsmith\u2019s absence because second-year man\u00a0Nick Herbig\u00a0(two sacks, two tackles for loss in Week 3) appears capable of filling the gap,\u201d Knox acknowledged later. Concluding that \u201cLawson would [still] be a sensible addition if Pittsburgh wants more depth behind Herbig and third-year player\u00a0DeMarvin Leal.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Shaq Lawson Has Been Consistent Throughout NFL Career<\/h2>\n<p>After entering the league as a first-round pick, Lawson failed to live up to his draft status but has been consistent throughout his\u00a0NFL\u00a0career.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s spent the majority of his time in Buffalo, aside from one season with the\u00a0Miami Dolphins\u00a0and another with the\u00a0New York Jets. If he were to sign, Pittsburgh would be his first destination outside of the AFC East.<\/p>\n<p>As Knox noted, while Lawson\u2019s sack total isn\u2019t all that high \u2014 26.0 career sacks \u2014 he\u2019s generally reached the 3.5-mark in most seasons. He\u2019s also accumulated 42 tackles for a loss, 77 QB hits and an impressive 7 forced fumbles. So, Lawson\u2019s veteran savvy could provide an impact in certain areas, like the turnover department.<\/p>\n<p>Per Pro Football Focus, Lawson is coming off the worst-graded campaign of his career in 2023, which explains his availability in late September.<\/p>\n<p>But if you look at his career as a whole, he\u2019s typically been well-rounded with a balanced effort as a pass rusher and an edge-setter in the run game. Lawson has earned a run defense score of 64.0 or higher in five out of his eight seasons.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s also been a sound tackler, for the most part \u2014 with 2019 being the outlier. Lawson was only charged with two missed tackles (or less) in five of eight seasons.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Would Steelers HC Mike Tomlin Bring a Newcomer Aboard a \u2018Moving Train\u2019?<\/h2>\n<p>Steelers head coach\u00a0Mike Tomlin had a quote on Tuesday, September 24, that might apply to this situation.<\/p>\n<p>While\u00a0discussing his decision not to activate rookie wide receiver Roman Wilson for Week 3, the Steelers HC said: \u201cIt is very difficult to get on a moving train.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust look at [defensive lineman]\u00a0Dean Lowry\u00a0for example,\u201d Tomlin explained. \u201cThere\u2019s a veteran guy that missed a substantial amount of training camp, and it was the third game before he got an [appearance]. Although he\u2019s been healthy for three weeks. And so, that gets multiplied when you\u2019re talking about a guy that has no NFL experience like Roman.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lawson has plenty of NFL experience, but he missed the entire preseason period and all of training camp. Would Tomlin bring in someone like that amid a 3-0 start? And if he okayed it, how long would it take for Lawson to work his way into the Steelers\u2019 rotation?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GettyAn NFL writer suggested that the Pittsburgh Steelers sign free agent pass rusher Shaq Lawson. The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0lost pass rusher\u00a0Alex Highsmith to a groin injury\u00a0in Week 3, and&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Steelers Pushed to Sign Former First-Round Talent After Alex Highsmith Injury.. - Sport News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.drinkfood.info\/?p=5487\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Steelers Pushed to Sign Former First-Round Talent After Alex Highsmith Injury.. - Sport News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"GettyAn NFL writer suggested that the Pittsburgh Steelers sign free agent pass rusher Shaq Lawson. 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