Steelers LB Nick Herbig is morphing from TJ Watt's protégé into a star in his own right

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nick Herbig doesn't look the part of a menace. At least not by NFL standards anyway.

The undersized Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker plays like one anyway.

Yes, Herbig knows he doesn't fit the prototypical body type of an elite edge rusher. Generously listed at 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, Herbig doesn't need to be reminded that he isn't a hulking physical specimen like teammates T.J. Watt (6-4, 252), Alex Highsmith (6-4, 242) or rookie Jack Sawyer (6-4, 260).

“I think that’s been my stigma my whole life,” Herbig said. “I’m too small to do this. I’m too small to do that."

What the third-year pro isn't too small to do, however, is thrive. All Herbig's done while filling in as Highsmith recovered from a high ankle sprain is turn the spark that he provided with regularity during his first two seasons into a full-on flame.

While Highsmith is expected to return to the lineup on Sunday when the first-place Steelers (3-1) host Cleveland (1-4), Herbig's play has forced the coaching staff's hand in the best way possible. Racking up 2 1/2 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble in three games will do that.

“It’s my job to find ways to get him out there (and) to keep him on the field with what he’s done because he's a splash player,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “He’s always around the ball. He makes it miserable for offensive tackles. He’s playing well. Guys that play well get rewarded by playing more.”

A reward that Herbig didn't so much fall into but earned. He knows if he was a couple of inches taller and a couple — OK, more than a couple — pounds heavier, he might not have slid into the fourth round of the draft as he did in 2023 despite leading the Big Ten in sacks during his final season at Wisconsin.

It might have been the best thing for him.

“That’s why you’re able to get people sometimes a little bit later in the draft than maybe their tape would indicate, because they don’t fit the cookie-cutter component of it," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "We've never had any reservations about his game or what he’s capable of."

In Pittsburgh, Herbig found himself a tailor-made mentor in Watt, a fellow Wisconsin alum who has become one of the most feared pass rushers of his generation.

Both spent their childhood as the youngest of three brothers, eager to prove they could hold their own. Both grew up in the shadow of siblings who went on to the NFL. Nate Herbig spent a handful of seasons in the league as an offensive lineman, J.J. Watt won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award three times in a career destined for the Hall of Fame.

Herbig caught Watt's eye immediately, not so much for the way Herbig played but the questions he would ask in meetings, ones that often ran deeper than the details about his assignment on a given snap.

While the student is hardly close to surpassing the teacher, some aspects of Herbig’s game could be considered Watt-esque, particularly the way Herbig combines quickness and instincts to be disruptive regardless of whatever 300-pound lineman might be in his way.

After being slowed by a hamstring injury near the end of training camp that forced him to miss the season opener, Herbig collected his first career pick against Seattle on Sept. 14 and raced 41 yards. The following week against New England, he chased down Patriots quarterback Drake Maye in the final minutes and produced a game-clinching fumble.

Herbig might have been even better in Pittsburgh's 24-21 win over Minnesota in Dublin, Ireland, two weeks ago. He dropped Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz to thwart an early Minnesota drive, then all but ended the game when he forced Wentz into an intentional grounding penalty in the waning seconds.

While Herbig is quick to point out that the considerable attention Watt requires on every play creates opportunities for him to succeed, he's also evolved into more than a mere pass-rush specialist, which the Steelers thought they were getting when they took him with the 132nd overall pick in 2023.

Herbig has made a concerted effort to become more than that. Opponents try to neutralize Watt by running plays in the opposite direction. For Herbig, that's meant figuring out how to handle 300-plus-pound offensive linemen who want to drive his No. 51 backward. Though he'll rarely win a battle of strength, he counters with an inherent tenacity combined with improved footwork and an ability to quickly diagnose what's happening in front of him.

“Sometimes you beat ’em to the punch in terms of setting edges and things like that,” Austin said. “So he does a really good job. He’s improved in that area ... he’s developed into a guy that can play the run and be effective in the run game."

One of the many mantras in the Herbig household growing up in Kauai, Hawaii, was “no whining.” Even though he was the baby, Herbig was never treated like one. He had to fight for respect at every turn to prove he belonged. So in some ways, what he's encountered in the NFL is just more of the same. And in that way, it's no big deal.

“So just having that mindset, that mentality and being a younger sibling, I feel like it's me against the world," he said. “And that definitely developed me into who I am today.”

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