Former NFL GM Rick Spielman has gone the analyst route since his departure from the Minnesota Vikings, working with various outlets including CBS Sports for a draft podcast called With The First Pick. On a recent episode, Spielman and co-host Ryan Wilson broke down their favorite instant impact rookies for 2023, and Spielman named Pittsburgh Steelers fourth-round pick Nick Herbig as one of his.
“He is one of the best collegiate football players that I watched. They used him on the outside. I watched him against Ohio State, he has excellent pass rush ability off the edge,” Spielman said.
He added that Herbig does have to improve his coverage ability, but that he thinks Mike Tomlin will be able to get the most out of the undersized linebacker.
“I think he’s going to have to learn to drop in coverage, he’s more than athletic enough to do it,” Spielman said. “I think coach Tomlin will do a phenomenal job utilizing his strengths and utilize him in a way to get pressure on the quarterback, whether that’s off the edge or blitzing through the A-gap.”
Spielman also said that outside of size, he sees a lot of similar traits between Herbig and T.J. Watt, who also played his college ball at Wisconsin. Obviously, Watt is quite a lofty comparison, but the two of them have a relationship going back a couple of years, and Herbig did have really solid pass rush production in college with 21 sacks for the Badgers.
While Herbig’s role is a little bit unknown, we do know Pittsburgh wants to utilize him as an OLB. With Markus Golden now in the fold, how much time Herbig will see the field as a rookie is up in the air, but Pittsburgh has also expressed interest in using him inside, and there’s no doubt he’ll also be a core special teamer. But the addition of Golden, even if it takes away from Herbig’s initial playing time, should be viewed as a positive for his development, as Josh Carney broke down the other day.
Herbig’s natural ability and motor make him a really intriguing NFL player. While his arm length of just 30 ¼ inches is pretty rare when it comes to NFL success, all he has to do is look at a guy like Golden who’s shown he can succeed in the NFL despite not having ideal size. Herbig’s attitude seems to be that of a guy who will do anything for the team as well, and coupled with his energy and motor, he’s someone who should find a role and carve out a place in the league for a long time.
