When Isaac Seumalo went down with a shoulder injury in Week 13 against the Arizona Cardinals, Nate Herbig stepped in at left guard. He logged 31 offensive snaps and played pretty well off the bench. The previous action he saw on offense before the Cardinals game was in Week Four and Five. His play was not great in those two games, but he played really well against the Cardinals.
He was the Steelers’ highest graded offensive player in the game by Pro Football Focus with a 91.8 overall grade. Included in that grade was a 91.0 run blocking grade and a 78.3 pass blocking grade. According to PFF, he allowed just one pressure. He also stayed clean in terms of penalties with none committed.
Seumalo is officially questionable for Thursday Night Football and did not practice on Wednesday. C Mason Cole was limited in practice with a neck injury and was also listed questionable. If one or both players cannot play, then Herbig will get the start.
One of the main things that stuck out about Herbig’s play was his play strength and the push he was able to generate off the line of scrimmage. In this clip, he generated a lot of push on both plays and accomplished this with good leg drive and punch placement.
On the first play of the clip, it was an outside zone toss to the left out of 13 personnel. Ideally Dan Moore Jr. could have reached around the defensive end to seal him off, but Jonathan Ledbetter did a nice job to stay outside. The next best thing is Nate Herbig joining in on the block and putting Ledbetter on skates. Herbig also did a nice job of getting one hand on the chest plate of Ledbetter so he could not easily peel off the block and disengage for the tackle. The Steelers got called for illegal formation so the play was wiped out, but this is just one instance of Herbig generating serious push.
On the second play of the clip, it was another outside zone toss play, but to the right this time. Cole did a nice job with his initial punch to give Herbig time to dig out the defensive tackle. He latched on to the chest plate of the defender with his right hand and drove him upfield several yards. He got enough push that the inside linebacker got caught up in the block, too. TE Darnell Washington was beaten badly on this play on the other side, so Najee Harris had no chance.
Herbig also does a nice job of playing to the whistle. He doesn’t check out of plays early. On the first play of this clip, Herbig made sure the defensive tackle couldn’t shoot the A gap with a nice punch and then looked left to help Moore. He blocked his initial man into the edge rusher and effectively blocked two people on one play. Mitch Trubisky probably should have stepped up in the pocket or taken off running himself, but he held onto the ball too long and had to throw the ball away. Broderick Jones was also beat on the right side.
The second play of this clip was the first play that Herbig came in, the play after Pickett and Seumalo exited the game. On fourth down from the 1-yard line, most of the offensive line gets stood up, which leaves nowhere for Harris to go. Herbig was the only lineman to generate any push because he didn’t give up on the play and kept his feet churning.
On the third play he chipped the nose tackle, climbed to the second level and blocked the tackle. He plays all the way to the whistle and even a little past it.
Herbig’s pass blocking was up and down in this game, but let’s start with some of the good. He is at his best when he is able to land at least one hand to the chest plate of a rushing defensive lineman. He did not display a great anchor in this game, but he has great latch strength, and once he latches on, he makes it difficult to disengage from the block. Both of the plays in this clip display that latch strength and how he uses that to steer defenders away from the quarterback.
The couple of times he got in trouble as a pass protector was against the bull rush. On both of the plays in this clip, he gave up his chest to the defender and got bull rushed back into Trubisky’s lap. He relies on his latch strength, so when a defender gets to his chest with a long arm or a bull rush, he struggles to recover.
James Daniels struggled early in his first year with the Steelers last season. Isaac Seumalo struggled early on this season as he acclimated to the team. Both players have improved throughout their tenure in Pittsburgh, so it’s reasonable to expect Herbig to do the same. His first couple of starts earlier in the season were rough, but he had a solid performance against the Cardinals to build from. It seems likely that Herbig will get another start against the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football due to Seumalo’s injury. His ability to displace defenders and create great push off the line of scrimmage makes him an intriguing start. The last time he started, the Steelers’ running game had not taken off yet. His strengths could mesh really well with the suddenly strong rushing attack.
