Has there been an edge rusher more efficient with his snaps than second-year OLB Nick Herbig?
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ dynamic backup got another chance to start with Alex Highsmith out, and like clockwork he made a massive, game-changing play against the Cincinnati Bengals. Given that it ended up being 44-38 in a one-possession game, it very likely won them the game.
Herbig punched out the football from QB Joe Burrow for a strip-sack, and it was recovered by Payton Wilson and returned for a huge touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Mike Tomlin isn’t surprised one bit with that type of impact coming from Herbig.
“We expect Herbig to do great things,” Tomlin said via the Steelers’ YouTube channel after the Steelers’ 44-38 win. “Herbig expects Herbig to do great things. He’s a talented young guy. We knew that was to be a critical matchup to be quite honest with you. We knew they’d throw some schematics over there at T.J. [Watt], and so that’s just the responsibility with playing that spot. Alex Highsmith owns it. Herbig owns it. I’m appreciative of it.”
Below is the game-changing play that Herbig made, easily beating OT Orlando Brown Jr.
On the broadcast after the play, they praised Herbig for how quickly he got around Brown, saying he was barely out of his snap. This was a good matchup for Herbig because Brown is a behemoth at 6-8, 350 pounds. He has the length, but good luck stopping Herbig’s speed and timing.
Earlier in the game, Brown was getting away with jumping into his pass set before the snap. Not too long before Herbig’s play, officials finally called him on it for a false start. That possibly contributed to the game-changing play. We likely would have seen more big Herbig plays, too, if Brown wasn’t given a pass for first-half false starts.
Herbig has appeared in 25 games in his career with just five starts and now has six forced fumbles, including four this season. He also has 4.5 sacks now on the season. Along with his sack, Herbig registered two quarterback hits and a tackle for loss.
Having 7.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, 11 QB hits, and nine tackles for loss is quite the resume for a player with under 500 career defensive snaps.
For comparison, T.J. Watt is roughly in the 670-snap range through 12 games this season. Herbig has a pretty solid season’s worth of production in way less than a season worth of snaps.
