Losing OLB T.J. Watt for nearly half of the 2022 regular season was an eye-opener for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They realized that they did not have adequate depth to insulate themselves in the event of a serious injury to one of their starters on the edge.
They sought to correct that this offseason, part of the process of which was to add Nick Herbig in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Weeks later, they signed veteran Markus Golden to be their primary backup—but at least one beat reporter sees things possibly going another way.
“I could see a scenario where Nick Herbig plays just as much as Markus Golden, if not more, as a rookie this season”, Ray Fittipaldo told Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller on 93.7 The Fan on Thursday. “I think he’s been that impressive. He’s just got a knack for pass-rushing, and the fact that he’s 6-2, 240 pounds doesn’t really matter. He’s just a football player”.
“I think he’s squarely in the conversation with Golden for the top outside linebacker backup job”, he added.
It’s an easier conversation to have coming off of an impressive preseason debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Herbig will face a bigger test on Saturday night when the Steelers host the Buffalo Bills for the second game of their exhibition slate.
While Golden only signed with the team on a veteran salary benefit contract, I do find myself struggling to buy the idea that the Steelers might play Herbig over him at the start of the year. I could, however, see a development in which Herbig ends up playing more snaps over the course of the year, as Fittipaldo suggests.
But we’re still really getting ahead of ourselves, and really talking about a singular, flash-in-the-pan preseason game. If you’ve followed Alex Kozora’s training camp reports, the offensive tackles have been picking up his moves better since returning from a hip flexor injury.
If that is the case, then he is going to have to quickly build up a repertoire of counters, because he’s not going to get by on speed and gumption alone, not at his size. He will, however, never stop going on a play until after the whistle is blown, and that counts for something.
Overall, Herbig has come out of his rookie camp raising the expectations for himself with the way that he performed as a whole. The question is whether he plateaued, and if so, how he can continue to rise from this point forward. It’s also fair to question how the hip injury may be factoring into his recent practices.
