Pittsburgh Steelers OL Nate Herbig will get his first start in the Black and Gold on Sunday replacing the injured James Daniels, and he credited his current and former teammate Isaac Seumalo for getting him ready to go. Seumalo and Herbig overlapped with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2019-2021, which included Herbig’s rookie season, and he talked about the extra work that Seumalo put in with him to help get him NFL-ready.
“He kind of took me under his wing when I got to the Eagles and after practice he would me work on my game and work on my craft. It’s something I’m forever indebted for him. I don’t know if I would be here without him, so I got nothing but high praise for him. I’m thankful for him and I’m thankful for the friendship that we made,” Herbig said via video on Steelers.com.
Herbig also talked about his love for his current Steelers teammates and his appreciating their work ethic.
“Everyone in the whole line room, like I love everybody. Bunch of great guys, they all come to work, put their hard hats on. I couldn’t ask for better teammates.”
Herbig was signed by the Steelers this offseason, a franchise that was familiar with him due to assistant general manager Andy Weidl being in Philadelphia at the same time as Herbig. He’s a starter-capable guy, something the Steelers were looking to add along the offensive line after an unprecedented bout of good health last season. With 28 career starts under his belt, including 11 last season, Herbig should be ready to go to step in for Daniels on Sunday.
He’ll line up at right guard with his friend Seumalo flanking him at left guard, and the duo is going to be tasked with keeping QB Kenny Pickett upright and creating holes for a run game that has been rather stagnant up to this point.
They broke through with 105 yards against the Las Vegas Raiders, and getting the ground game going is going to be a key for the Steelers going forward. They can continue their momentum on Sunday with strong performances out of Herbig and Seumalo.
Herbig came in with a reputation as a sound run blocker, posting PFF run-blocking grades of 67.2 in 2021 and 69.4 in 2020. That number dipped to 55.7 last season, but Herbig’s shown that he can be a mauler in the run game and solid in pass protection, and hopefully that remains the case on Sunday.
