Entering the Week 14 matchup against the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium, the Pittsburgh Steelers are getting healthy at the right time and are set to regain a huge piece of their defense.
Outside linebacker Alex Highsmith is set to return for the Steelers on Sunday, giving Pittsburgh a huge boost up front defensively. In the process, though, that could push Nick Herbig into a more limited role.
For ESPN’s Seth Walder, Herbig has earned the right to remain in the rotation due to his dominance as a pass rusher this season.
“Herbig has dominated when he has been on the field this season, which has been more frequent with Alex Highsmith sidelined over the past three weeks. Herbig has a 25% pass rush win rate at edge that would rank third behind Danielle Hunter and Trey Hendrickson if he qualified. His 3.1% sack rate would also rank in the top 10,” Walder writes regarding Herbig. “Highsmith is expected to be back this week, but Herbig certainly has earned the right to stay in the rotation in this formidable pass-rushing trio led by T.J. Watt.”
Since returning from his own hamstring injury that caused him to miss four games, Nick Herbig has been a force for the Steelers. In Week 11 against the Baltimore Ravens, Herbig had a forced fumble on Derrick Henry and then added a strip-sack of Jameis Winston in Week 12 and a strip-sack leading to a touchdown in Week 13 against the Bengals.
In those last three weeks, Nick Herbig has 12 pressures, two sacks, six run stops, and three forced fumbles. He’s the fifth-highest-graded EDGE defender in the NFL, which is remarkable.
It seems hard to push back into a rotational role, but that says more about the Steelers’ talent at the outside linebacker position with the return of Highsmith and T.J. Watt.
The Steelers could utilize a three-OLB formation, which Highsmith talked about earlier in the week. With some combination of Highsmith, Watt, Herbig, and Preston Smith on the field at the same time, this could create matchup nightmares for the opposing offense.
While Walder makes a case for Nick Herbig to stay in the rotation, it seems silly to think that Herbig would be plastered to the bench all of a sudden. When Highsmith was healthy, Herbig played 17 snaps against Atlanta to open the season and 17 snaps against the Denver Broncos in Week 2.
Then, in Week 3, Highsmith played 25 snaps before exiting with a groin injury, and Herbig played 19 snaps, forcing a fumble and recording two sacks in that win over the Chargers.
So, with Highsmith back in action and healthy, it’s reasonable to expect Nick Herbig to see between 15 and 20 snaps moving forward, which is a good number for him to come in and make an impact. He’s a key rotational piece. He’s earned that.
