Steelers A to Z: Will Nick Herbig continue to develop - perhaps into Steelers’ next great OLB?

Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2024 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 14 and July 25. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

OLB NICK HERBIG

Experience/age: 2nd season, 22

Contract status: $1.08 million cap hit in 2024, signed through 2026

The past: A third-team All America and first-team all-Big Ten edge rusher at Wisconsin, Herbig had a previously established relationship with Steelers’ star T.J. Watt. Watt, of course, played the same position under the same scheme at the same school in college. Like Watt (11½ sacks in 14 games his final season) Herbig had an 11-sack season (in only 11 games played) the season before the Steelers drafted him.

As a fourth-round pick last year, Herbig quickly showed his pass-rush chops over the summer at organized team activities and minicamp. He was a training-camp standout, too. But in joining a team that had a stacked outside linebackers’ position room in Watt, Alex Highsmith (who was given a $68 million contract extension last summer) and Markus Golden (a nine-year veteran with 51 career sacks), Herbig was the mere fourth option.

Among 191 defensive snaps over 17 games last season, Herbig filled the statsheet with 27 tackles (19 solo, 5 for loss), three sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. His strip-sack during the fourth quarter of a Dec. 31 game at the Seattle Seahawks helped seal a win.

2024 outlook: According to Pro Football Focus, Herbig had a better pass-rush win percentage than even Watt (or any other Steelers outside linebacker) last season. Though that is skewed by sample size, it is clear overall that Herbig’s ability to rush the passer is — to borrow Mike Tomlin parlance — “above the line.” Any question about his future ability to excel in the pros comes down to handling the other aspects of his position: tackling, setting the edge in the run game, coverage duties. While there’s not reason to believe Herbig can’t perform those duties, there might need to be an extended opportunity to show it.

That opportunity becomes slightly more available this season with the departure of Golden. And though Watt and Highsmith each played all 17 games last season, in the NFL it would be naïve to believe that will happen again in 2024. One way or another, odds are Herbig will get a chance to start some games this season. Whatever questions remain about his ability to be an every-down type player in the NFL will be answered then.