Steelers' Preston Smith Gives OLB Room A Massive Boost Against The Commanders' Run Game

The Pittsburgh Steelers added some surprising depth to their outside linebacker room before the 2024 NFL trade deadline. They gave the Green Bay Packers a seventh-round draft pick for Preston Smith, who is in his 10th year in the league. During his time in the NFL, Smith primarily played linebacker, but he has been used as a defensive end at times. That is part of what pushed him to request a trade from the Packers, as they changed their defensive scheme from a 3-4 to a 4-3. Smith said he was relieved to be in Pittsburgh, calling it exactly what he wanted, where they run a 3-4 defense and he can have a bigger impact. 

That impact will be put to test in his first game in black and gold in Week 10. Ironically the Steelers will travel to Landover, Maryland to face the team that selected Smith in the second-round in 2015, the Washington Commanders. According to Christopher Carter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Steelers can really use Smith against the Commanders and their outstanding rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Carter talked about it on the Fan Morning Show on 93.7 The Fan, and said that when a team faces a zone running offense (like Washington), the edge rushers have to really be on their game.  

"It's really good that you got Alex Highsmith back healthy," explained Carter. "It's really good that you got Nick Herbig supposedly back healthy and you added Preston Smith. Personally, I think after watching the film on Preston Smith, that's something that he's really good at contributing to, he's a big-body, he loves to be physical, really good at getting his hands up inside the frame of edge blockers and that's gonna give the Steelers a chance, even when their top guys aren't on the field to still control the run game."

Carter said that the Commanders have had two different running backs be dangerous in Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler, as well as how dangerous Daniels can be. He said he named nearly every Steeler on the defense -- Cameron Heyward, Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, etc. and said they have the ability to squeeze the run game -- as long as they maintain gap integrity. 

Having Smith in the outside linebacker room gives the Steelers' defense the boost it needed. With the injury to DeMarvin Leal and the sudden retirement of Markus Golden, they were already a few men down. Add to that the injuries sustained by Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig, and T.J. Watt was left to fend for himself with a handful of practice squad players at outside linebacker. Now that Herbig and Highsmith are back and they have added Smith, they can adjust the snap counts to something more reasonable. Both Watt and Highsmith have been playing way too many snaps and the fatigue has shown by the end of the game. 

Steelers' T.J. Watt Given The Respect He Deserves

The Steelers' defense will definitely have their hands full, but so will the Commanders' offense. Pittsburgh is full of game wreckers and Commanders Offensive Coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said Watt is the one in particular who keeps him up at night.  

Kingsbury said he is the kind of player that gives opposing coaches fits, like Aaron Donald. He said that the Commanders' offense will have to know where he is on every play at every time. They cannot leave him unaccounted and they must put extra coverage on him. 

The problem with throwing all your extra attention at Watt is that Highsmith and company are just as capable of making big plays. The beauty of a player like Watt is that he has a multifaceted impact on the game, both with his game play, and with his ability to allow other players to make plays because the opponents are distracted. 

Now that they have added Smith, Watt will be able to get the snaps off that he needs to recover to be able to give it max effort. The Steelers will need them at 100% against the Commanders. 

What kind of impact do you think Smith will make on the defense? Click to comment below.

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