Alex Highsmith: DE · Charlotte · #5.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Alex Highsmith
Wins the corner before the tackle can set. Played for two head coaches at Charlotte: Brad Lambert and Will Healy. That makes two straight seasons on the honors list: All-Conference USA again in 2019. One game to point at: 7 tackles against Buffalo — Bowl, 2019.
Play style
Bends the edge and wins with first-step quickness. Lighter frame, relentless motor.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
63 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 16.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
NC Football News Oct 17Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2019 season · 12 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 49-28vs Gardner-Webb | 7 | 3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 2 | L 41-56@ App State | 4 | 2 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 2 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 3 | W 52-17vs Massachusetts | 5 | 3 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 10-52@ No. 1 Clemson | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 27-45vs Florida Atlantic | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 23-48@ Florida International | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 14-30@ Western Kentucky | 6 | 4 | 2.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 | 2.5 TFL |
| Wk 9 | W 39-38vs North Texas | 9 | 5 | 2.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 10 | W 34-20vs Middle Tennessee | 5 | 3 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 28-21@ UTEP | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 24-13vs Marshall | 5 | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 9-31vs Buffalo | 7 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 63 | 37 | 16.5 | 10.5 | — | 2 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Sack rate
17%10 sacksTFL rate
26%16 TFLHurry rate
11%7 hurriesPressure-to-sack conversion
60%10 of 18 pressures63 tackles · 16.5 for loss · 10.5 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2019 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 5.7 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 4.4 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 4.9 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 5.8 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Will Healy
Pass share
38.1%
319 pass / 519 run
Plays / game
64.5
13 games
Team sack rate
6.1%
363 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2019
First team in his league at the position.
How it ended
Four seasons at Charlotte, 16 sacks, a first-team All-Conference season (2018) — drafted at #102 overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
A stat line in 43 games over four seasons.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-CONFERENCE USA · 1ST TEAM
All-Conference USA 1st team (2019)
Coaching lineage · 2016–2019
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Brad Lambert → Will Healy. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Next stop · NFL
Pittsburgh SteelersEntering 7th NFL season
Pittsburgh SteelersEntering 7th NFL season
