When Broderick Jones got drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, he probably thought about all the tough reps he’d get against T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. Turns out, he didn’t see those guys too often in the summer. Running with the second stringers most of the time, Jones had his hands full with rookie EDGE Nick Herbig. Not that Jones should feel bad. He was far from the only one.
Speaking to reporters before Monday’s practice, Jones explained what makes Herbig such a difficult guy to block.
“His speed,” Jones said via Steelers.com. “Without a doubt. I think his size plays a factor too, a little bit. But his speed is for sure top priority with him. He knows how to get off the ball. His speed sets up his rushes so it’s tough to play. If things aren’t going your way and you’ve got him on the other side of the ball, you might have a tough day.”
Jones certainly had his tough moments against Herbig. But the rookies went at it across 16 practices and Jones won his fair share of reps. In our training camp awards, we named it the Steelers’ top battle of the summer, writing:
“Herbig had fun battles with a lot of players but to see rookie go against rookie, two stud athletes for their positions, was a lot of fun. Herbig won some reps, Jones won some reps, and they made each other better. Herbig showed the ability to actually gain the edge on Jones, something few did, while Jones countered with the ability to seal him up the arc instead of Herbig dusting poor Le’Raven Clark, as he did early in camp.”
As Jones said, Herbig’s speed and explosiveness off the ball immediately makes him a tough task. Even for a tremendous athlete like Jones, being a tick slow off the snap could mean giving up the edge and your quarterback getting sacked. It’s easier for the linebacker to key the ball than it is for the tackle, always giving Herbig the edge. That speed forces tackles to set wide and respect it, allowing Herbig to counter and win inside. Despite being a rookie, Herbig has a deep repertoire of pass-rush moves and tackles can’t sit on or expect just one or two moves. Even a lack of size, the biggest knock on Herbig coming out of Wisconsin, can work in his favor, able to dip under taller tackles and has reduced surface area to hit.
For Jones, smaller people are harder to block than the big ones.
“It’s really the smaller people that you have to worry about…in their bag [are] so many different things,” he said. “They can go up-and-under, they can dip around the corner just because they’re so short.”
Herbig showed that off in the preseason, beating this Buffalo Bills right tackle with amazing bend and flexion to corner and stay balanced on his way to strip-sacking the quarterback.
He now looks poised for a more immediate season impact than even Jones, who is shaping up to be the Steelers’ backup left tackle to start the year. Herbig won’t start but will play in the Steelers’ rotation behind Watt and Highsmith, mixing in alongside Markus Golden. And he’ll continue to battle Jones in practice each day.
