After quietly being one of the first additions in free agency to the reshaped roster for the Pittsburgh Steelers, offensive lineman Nate Herbig had to bide his time as a key depth piece for the Black and Gold early in the 2023 season.
Then, after right guard James Daniels came out of the Sunday Night Football win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week Three with a groin injury that ultimately put him on the shelf for Week Four, Herbig had the opportunity he’d been waiting for, this time against the Houston Texans.
Suffice it to say, Herbig didn’t seize upon his opportunity.
The fifth-year guard really struggled in his 59 snaps at right guard for the Steelers on Sunday inside NRG Stadium in a disappointing 30-6 loss to the upstart Texans. Herbig wasn’t the lone lineman that struggled. In fact, all but left guard Isaac Seumalo had rough days.
Herbig graded out at just a 46.4 overall from Pro Football Focus on Sunday, including a team-worst 22.0 pass blocking, as well as a 55.6 as a run blocker. Against the Texans, Herbig allowed six pressures in 35 pass-blocking reps. He had allowed just 46 pressures over the last four years on 2,085 snaps.
Let’s take a look at Herbig’s Steelers regular season debut and see what went right and what went wrong.
RUN GAME
Signed as a true mauler in the run game that brings a nasty edge to the table, Herbig really left a lot to be desired in that aspect on Sunday on the road.
It started right away on the first rep.
For a guy who has had to sit and watch the last three games and didn’t get a ton of work in training camp or in the preseason, one would think that Herbig would be itching to go and would be looking to come out and hit the snot out of somebody.
That wasn’t the case on the first rep.
Herbig appears hesitant climbing to the second level, almost as if he’s unsure of his footwork and just wants to land the block. Though he is able to put himself between the defender and running back Najee Harris, he doesn’t create any displacement at all in the run game on the first rep when on the move.
It was a sign of things to come.
Too often throughout the game, Herbig was sliding off blocks in the run game, which allowed his defender to get back into plays.
That’s what happens here with Herbig. He does a good initial job of creating displacement down the line of scrimmage, creating a running lane off of his right hip. But he doesn’t finish the play and allows the defender to get off the block and get back into the play, keeping it to a short gain.
Later on the same drive the Steelers try and run a draw.
It’s a mess right from the start.
Herbig is a bit too passive in his set, getting walked right back into Najee Harris’ path.
Harris does a great job of bouncing off of Herbig’s back, but after that, it just turns into a complete mess. Rookie left tackle Broderick Jones loses his block and then stands around in the hole, leading to Najee Harris running right up his backside.
Yikes.
At times on Sunday, it got better for Herbig in the run game, especially when he was asked to create movement.
In the red zone here, Herbig does a great job on duo with center Mason Cole, driving his feet and ultimately burying the Houston defensive tackle.
That’s good to see from Herbig. Just a bit discouraging that even with the good blocking up front Harris has two free defenders running at him within a few yards of the line of scrimmage.
It’s a microcosm of the Steelers’ run game.
The best run of the day though had to do with Herbig landing a block at the second level with right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor.
The Steelers had a great deal of success on Sunday with their trap game. They hit a quick one here again.
Herbig climbs to the second level and gets a hat on the linebacker, giving Harris room to squeeze through on his way to a 23-yard run. You’d like to see Herbig be a bit more physical here and look to bury a linebacker waiting on him at the second level, but that’s nitpicking in this instance. He did his job and it sprung Harris to a big gain.
PASS BLOCKING
The tape as a pass blocker was nowhere near as bad as PFF’s grades made it out to be. Shocker, I know.
Though PFF has him down for six pressures, a few of them were hard to spot and were a bit ticky-tack.
For a guy making his debut with the Steelers’ starting offensive line, Herbig really handled stunts and twists quite well throughout the game. That’s a good sign of overall communication and feel with the guys around him, which is rather impressive considering he just started working with them in an expanded capacity this week to prepare as the starter.
Really nice job here working with Chukwuma Okorafor.
Smooth, easy pass-off between the two. Herbig does a really nice job recovering back inside to handle the looping Will Anderson, keeping the pocket clean for Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett.
There is a similar rep here.
It was a really clean pass-off from Okorafor with clear communication. That’s textbook stuff in pass protection when handling stunts up front.
There were a few times on tape though where Herbig got caught with his hands out too wide in pass protection, letting the defender into his chest which then puts him at an immediate disadvantage.
That’s what happens here against Houston’s Kurt Hinish, who is ultimately able to discard Herbig and record pressure on Kenny Pickett, leading to the throw away.
It happened earlier in the game against former Steelers defensive lineman Khalil Davis.
Herbig opened himself up early and Davis was able to get into his chest.
To his credit though, Herbig was able to sit into his hips and keep the pocket clean for Pickett to unleash a deep throw that was ultimately picked off.
That’s a strong anchor there from Herbig.
There were some strong reps on tape though one-on-one, like this one against Sheldon Rankins. He did a good job of sitting into his hips, utilizing the hop technique some to give ground but gain control with his anchor.
Even on the field 4th and 1 play that saw Pickett get hurt, Herbig had a nice rep.
Pass protection doesn’t need to be passive. That fits Herbig. With nobody over top of him, he looked inside to help Mason Cole, and saw his center had his guy controlled, so he looked back outside and got a nice slab of ribs from Will Anderson, knocking the standout pass rusher to the turf.
Of course, on the other side of the play, Pickett was hurt, so it wasn’t all positive on the rep.
Overall, Herbig had some real issues in pass protection, which wasn’t exactly his strong suit coming into his tenure with the Steelers. He was more of an aggressive, downhill mauler. Knowing that, that’s why it was so disappointing to see Herbig play passively far more often than not in the run game.
We’ll see if he gets another start against Baltimore in Week 5 at Acrisure Stadium as Daniels continues to recover. If he does, he needs to be one of the guys who steps up to the challenge from backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky to play with more heart and really bring that nasty edge to the run game.
