While T.J. Watt frequently grabs national headlines with game-changing splash plays, edge partner Alex Highsmith delivered a quiet masterclass during the Pittsburgh Steelers' Week 1 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Keying a dominant pass rush that harassed Atlanta's backfield all afternoon, Highsmith notched two sacks, including one powered by his signature counter-move, the “Smitty Spin.”
On his podcast “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward,” All-Pro defensive tackle Cameron Heyward broke down the technical brilliance of Highsmith’s spin move. He even revealed the specific internal name the edge rushers use for the technique.
“He has his signature. We call a spin. It's an ice pick,” Heyward explained, detailing how Highsmith executes the maneuver.
“Where it's literally, he's like throwing his spin, but he's putting his back arm and that's what you call the ice pick. That was just that was a sight to see.”
Rather than relying purely on momentum, the "ice pick" involves Highsmith driving his trailing arm sharply downward into the tackle’s torso as he spins inside, preventing the blocker from recovering or holding.
However, mechanics were only half the story. Heyward pointed out a structural change in defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s rotation that kept Highsmith explosive into the fourth quarter. Rather than overworking their starters, Pittsburgh deliberately dialed back snaps across the front edge.
“Alex actually told me this after the game. He was like, 'Bro, I only played like 40 plays,'” Heyward recalled. “And wow, that just shows like there is growth in our defense where not everybody has to play every single play. We have a good rotation, that is going to keep a lot of guys fresh, a lot of guys healthy, and allow us to make a really good run at this.”
By pairing refined technique with a deliberate snap-count rotation, Highsmith and the Steelers have established a defensive template built to terrorize quarterbacks all season.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Cam Heyward reveals the secret behind Alex Highsmith's best move
