The Pittsburgh Steelers added some depth along the edge ahead of the NFL trade deadline when the team struck a deal with the Green Bay Packers for Preston Smith.

While all the attention was on the Steelers’ need at wide receiver, general manager Omar Khan had more up his sleeve. And, it’s a good thing he did, as the Steelers recently lost Alex Highsmith to a potential multi-week injury.

Smith wasted no time making an impact in his debut, with the veteran edge rusher tallying three tackles, including two tackles for loss, and one sack. Safe to say, his performance has created a fair amount of hype for what he can do moving forward.

Smith’s debut has caught the attention of the national media. In fact, ESPN’s Dan Graziano now believes that Smith is primed for a breakout second half of the season.

“Preston Smith was an under-the-radar add for the Steelers, but with Alex Highsmith injured again, Smith could get some high-leverage pass-rush opportunities while offenses focus on trying to stop T.J. Watt,” Graziano wrote.

Smith has always been a highly productive edge rusher during his career, but things changed in Green Bay this season after the team made a switch from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense. Smith felt that was a bad fit for him, something he revealed after being traded to Pittsburgh, where he’ll be back in a 3-4.

“It was great,” Smith said of joining the Steelers, according to Chris Adamski of TribLive.com. “Just getting out here, getting back in a system I’m comfortable being in and playing at a high level, I’m loving it right now.”

“It’s just what I’ve been playing in the last nine years of my career, until this season,” he explained. “It’s what I was comfortable playing in, and what I got used to playing in the previous nine seasons. So, just being back in the system is like riding your favorite bike again.”

Smith was good for eight or more sacks in three of the past four years, including a career-best 12 in 2019. Now that he’s in the right system, and with the injury to Highsmith, Smith is primed to explode over the next eight games.

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