The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t have a ton of draft capital on Day 3 of the NFL Draft, with just a fourth-round pick and two seventh-round selections. In the fourth, the Steelers selected Wisconsin LB Nick Herbig, while they took Purdue CB Cory Trice Jr. and Maryland OL Spencer Anderson in the seventh. Both Trice and Herbig should play some sort of a role for the Steelers’ defense in 2023, but who is going to have a bigger impact out of the two of them?
After the draft, it seemed like the answer to that question would be Herbig. The Steelers immediately announced their intentions to play him as an EDGE, and it looked like he would probably slot in as the primary backup at the position behind Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt. The signing of Markus Golden pushed Herbig down the depth chart at OLB though, and while his flexibility could make him a contributor at ILB, the position he’s probably best suited for at the NFL level, Trice has been a standout during OTAs.
Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic recently named Trice a potential Day 3 steal, and his physical profile fits what the Steelers want to do defensively. Like Joey Porter Jr., Trice is a bigger corner, standing at 6’3 and weighing over 200 pounds. He’s reportedly been a standout at OTAs, and with Pittsburgh revamping its cornerback room this offseason, he could play a big role on the outside.
Right now, Patrick Peterson, Porter, Levi Wallace and James Pierre are the team’s likely top outside corners, but Trice could definitely surpass Pierre on the depth chart by the time Week 1 rolls around.
In addition, depending on how Chandon Sullivan performs as the team’s slot corner, there’s always a chance the team gets creative and experiments with someone like Peterson in the slot, opening up more opportunities for Trice on the outside.
Couple that with the fact that Trice wasn’t supposed to fall to the seventh round, only being around late in the draft due to his medical history, and the Steelers are sitting on a guy who really could be a steal. The team has struggled mightily when it comes to drafting and developing corners in recent years, but if both Porter and Trice pan out, the 2023 draft could buck that trend.
Given the fact that Trice is a better player than his draft position indicates and that he’s been a major standout so far, I think he could be a really solid contributor this year, more so than Herbig.
And that’s not a knock on Herbig, either. He’s stuck in a numbers game with three accomplished pass rushers ahead of him on the OLB depth chart, and veterans like Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts slated to start at ILB.
Mark Robinson could very well be ahead of Herbig when it comes to the ILB depth chart, meaning Herbig’s best chance to play could be in sub packages. While he could develop into a really solid contributor for this team, his primary contributions this year are going to be on special teams, where he’s likely to be a core player as a rookie. As Baumgardner wrote, Trice could end up being “one hell of a steal.”
