Pittsburgh Steelers OLB Nick Herbig was already hot rolling into Saturday night’s game against the Buffalo Bills, coming off a two-sack performance in his preseason debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last weekend. He picked up right where he left of against Buffalo, notching three tackles and an impressive strip sack that Pittsburgh recovered for the turnover.
Herbig was asked following the game to go through the play in which he got the sack and forced fumble against QB Matt Barkley. Herbig made sure to credit his mentor for getting the sack, saying that the cross chop was OLB T.J. Watt’s idea to deploy to change things up.
“You know, me and T.J. were just talking about potential moves that I could work on that side,” Herbig said to the media via audio from the Steelers’ PR department. “Me and him work at it every day, you know, and he’s telling me I keep setting up with my other rushes, so it’s time to do something different that we worked every day. So, I went out there and I tried it, you know? I listened to the best edge rusher in the league in T.J, so shout out to him.”
Watt praised his protégé after the Steelers’ 27-15 win at Acrisure Stadium, crediting him for being a student of the game and for working his butt off to become a better player. All of that work appears to be paying off for Herbig as he has made his impact felt the last two games, getting to the quarterback consistently with a variety of pass rush moves.
Herbig has been following Watt around ever since OTAs, asking him questions and working with him on different pass rush moves to add to his arsenal and better hone his craft. The cross chop for a sack against the Bills was well-utilized, catching the offensive tackle off-guard.
As a pass rusher, it’s important to have a counter move to your go-to pass rush move to keep offensive linemen on their toes. For Herbig, he’s starting to show that he can have multiple moves in his toolbox to keep blockers guessing, much like Watt and Highsmith do. For a fourth-round pick, Herbig is looking like a player who can contribute early and often once the regular season begins as a rotational pass rusher on the edge. The more he works on perfecting his pass rush, the more dangerous he will become as a depth piece in Pittsburgh’s defense.
