Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: OLB Nick Herbig
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The rookie edge rusher has impressed during training camp thus far without pads. A fourth-round pick out of Wisconsin, he was productive during his college career, but some have questioned how his game would translate to the NFL without a position switch given his smaller frame, including shorter-than-ideal arm length.
Even more than usual when it comes to training camp observations, the early days must come with a significant caveat: things will look different once the pads come on, which won’t happen until Tuesday. But so far through three days of practice open to the public, rookie OLB Nick Herbig has reportedly looked like the real deal.
Granted, he has mostly been going up against opposition like veteran journeyman Le’Raven Clark, who may not even make the 53-man roster, but there are two keys to that. One, you can only beat the man in front of you. And two, if you keep beating him, you’ll get the man in front of him on the depth chart.
Despite excellent college production over the past two seasons including 20 sacks, 108 tackles, and 30 tackles for loss with four forced fumbles, Herbig still found himself waiting into day three of the draft to hear his name called.
While the wait may have been trying, it worked out seemingly for the best, as he has enjoyed the company in Pittsburgh—especially his older brother, Nate, whom the team signed as an unrestricted free agent earlier in the offseason.
Though the team has two Pro Bowl-caliber starters at the outside linebacker position in T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, and they added veteran depth after the draft in Markus Golden, Herbig remains very much on track as a safe bet to make the team, and likely to contribute defensively as well. Playing on special teams would be a given.
The next step is doing the same thing he has been doing, only with pads on. Then doing it against the next level of competition. Then doing it in the preseason games. And then he’ll have to do it in the games that count. If he does that, then it doesn’t matter worth a lick what anybody has to say about his potential limitations. Until then, he will have those who question his ceiling on the edge in the NFL, but for now—and it’s very early—he’s passing the initial proof-of-concept tests.
