Few analysts looked at Pittsburgh Steelers rookie outside linebacker Nick Herbig the way that NFL Network and Audacy analyst Brian Baldinger did throughout the preseason.
As Herbig, a fourth-round pick out of Wisconsin, impressed week-in and week-out in the preseason, generating four sacks and looking like the next force in a long line of high-end pass rushers in Steelers history, Baldinger couldn’t take his eyes off of him.
The praise was absolutely warranted, too, as Herbig simply couldn’t be blocked in the preseason, showing high-end speed off the edge to win with finesse but then flashing some power to his game with a pass rush arsenal that was quite impressive for a young product.
Then, the regular season started.
Herbig found playing time rather limited, and rightfully so behind the trio of T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Markus Golden.
That changed on Sunday at SoFi Stadium against the Los Angeles Rams. Herbig saw extended action as the Rams were running a lot of plays in the first half, leading to the Steelers rotating him in to try and keep Highsmith and Watt fresh. Herbig rewarded the Steelers with his first career sack in the second quarter, using speed off the edge to win with a “ghost” rush around Los Angeles left tackle Alaric Jackson, sacking Matthew Stafford for a 6-yard loss.
Knowing that Herbig recorded his first career sack Sunday, Baldinger rushed to the tape quickly Monday morning to check it out.
“Let’s share the big moment here for the Steelers’ fourth-round pick out of Wisconsin, Nick Herbig. The left tackle: just a touch late. That’s all it takes in this business. Just a touch late for Nick to ghost him right here,” Baldinger said in his breakdown of Herbig’s sack, according to the video he posted to Twitter. “Then once you turn the corner here, you get to Stafford. You get to that Super Bowl MVP right there and you take him down.
“And there’s a moment here with Nick Herbig. Former Wisconsin teammate Keeanu Benton there celebrating there with him. And there’s Steelers’ all-time sack leader T.J. Watt. Just a good moment, a celebration. Welcome to the club! The ‘sack the quarterback club’ right there. Gotta get one before you get 100.”
Herbig’s “ghost” rush around Jackson was rather impressive, especially after he observed from the sidelines the number of times that Highsmith was winning with the move early in the game. That led to Herbig busting out of the move off left tackle, winning cleaning for the easy takedown of Stafford. It definitely helped that Jackson was slow off the ball after being caught looking inside at the snap thanks to the noise that Steelers fans were generating on the road. But even if Jackson wasn’t a tick slow off the ball, Herbig ate up so much ground and was so low to the ground he would likely have recorded the sack anyway.
That moment after Herbig’s sack was quite special, too. Benton was right there with him to welcome his fellow rookie to the sack club. Remember, Benton had his first career sack in Week Three on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders. So, too, Watt, who has taken Herbig under his wing so far in his career, aiming to help his fellow Badger become a good player in the NFL.
It’s just the first sack of his career, but it’s a special one that led to a good moment on the field. Hopefully there are many more to come in the career of Herbig in the Black and Gold.
