Undersized. Arms are too small. Can he hold up on the edge against the run? Looks too light on tape.
Those were all things Pittsburgh Steelers rookie fourth-round draft pick Nick Herbig heard throughout the pre-draft process coming out of Wisconsin after a stellar season for the Badgers in 2022.
Those were the same things he heard once he was drafted by the Steelers in the fourth round at No. 132 overall. He seemed too small, way too short of arms and lacked overall weight — regardless of what he weighed in at for the Combine — to hold up on the edge as an outside linebacker in the Steelers’ 3-4 system.
That talk never phased Herbig or the Steelers coaches, who started him out at outside linebacker and have watched him flourish through his first two preseason games, recording 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills.
For Herbig, that talk meant nothing to him as he always believed in himself. It’s still early in his career, but what he’s put on tape so far is impressive.
“No, and that goes back to my saying, ‘dynamite comes in small packages,'” Herbig said to reporters following the win over Buffalo, according to video via the Steelers YouTube page. “I don’t think any of that [size talk] matters to me, honestly.”
At this rate, it shouldn’t.
He’s as big as he’s going to be. His arms aren’t going to grow any longer, and he’s not going to get any heavier than he already is.
At the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, Herbig checked in with 31 1/4-inch arms, though he did put on 12 pounds following the 2022 season to get up to 240 pounds at the Combine.
Still, his measurements have him on the small side for the position. According to mockdraftable.com, Herbig is in the 54th percentile for weight, 68th percentile for height, 18th percentile for arm length and 21st percentile for hand size.
The arm length and hand size percentiles for an edge rusher in a 3-4 scheme were rather concerning — on paper.
With Herbig, it was — at the time — a major projection at the outside linebacker position due to his arm length. Though Herbig’s height and weight aren’t immediately disqualifying to play on the edge in the NFL, a lack of length and overall body type was more concerning, especially for the Steelers.
That’s why they play the games though.
Putting on the pads, Herbig has been a mismatch for offensive tackles with his get-off, lateral agility, ability to convert speed to power and his deep, developing pass rush move arsenal. He’s taking moves from T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith and has looked really impressive so far in his first training camp and preseason in the NFL.
Dynamite does come in small packages, and so far that’s what Herbig has been, putting an end to many of the doubts about his ability to stick on the edge.
He showed that again on Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills at Acrisure Stadium, creating pressure off the edge on his first snap of the night against Buffalo standout left tackle Dion Dawkins, forcing an incompletion from Josh Allen. In the second quarter Herbig shot into the backfield and slipped under a pulling blocker for a tackle for loss on Buffalo running back Jordan Mims, and later Herbig put a bow on everything with a fantastic cross chop to force a strip-sack-fumble on quarterback Matt Barkley that was recovered by linebacker Tanner Muse. Herbig showed great ability to bend the edge on that rep.
When you have the athleticism and ability to bend the edge with the ankle flexion that Herbig has shown, it doesn’t matter what your arm length is rushing the passer. It will come into play as a run defender, but Herbig is proving to be a small package of dynamite as a pass rusher, which is exactly what the Steelers need as that rotational edge behind Watt and Highsmith.
