The Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t been at full strength in their outside linebacker room very much this season, but Nick Herbig was healthy and started in place of Alex Highsmith on Sunday versus the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bengals went shopping for some offensive line help ahead of the 2023 season when they brought in Orlando “Zeus” Brown Jr. It is Mike Tomlin’s belief that Alex Highsmith had something to do with that decision.
“There’s some dudes in Cincinnati sitting in their room to combat the talents of some of you people,” Tomlin said via HBO’s Hard Knocks. “There’s a reason why Orlando Brown is in Cincinnati, because in 2022, man, Alex Highsmith walked the absolute dog on this dude. Herbig, we got Orlando Brown this week and so let’s work.”
On paper, it is a very strange matchup. Brown is 6-8, 350 pounds with 35-inch arms. He is the exact type of player that many were worried about when the Steelers drafted Herbig to be an edge rusher, with no plans to kick him inside to an off-ball position.
Herbig is listed at just 6-2, 240 pounds and had 31 1/4-inch arms coming out of the draft. It’s a bit of a David and Goliath story for the two of them, but that didn’t stop Tomlin from placing high expectations on Herbig.
“You and Zeus. You know what I mean? Alex had, what – three and a half, four sacks on him, man, in two football games,” Tomlin said. “They had to go shopping. That’s why Zeus is there. One on one on Zeus, man, you’ve gotta kill him.”
As it turns out, Herbig did kill him. It wasn’t a dominant performance all the way through by any means. Brown was getting away with a lot of early jumps before the snaps. But Herbig made a game-changing play late in the game.
Here is what Tomlin told Herbig following the big play.
“Hey, I’m not going to act surprised. That’s what you’re brought here to do,” Tomlin told Herbig. “Let’s not act surprised. This ain’t a lightning strike, man, you’re built for this.”
As Tomlin said, this isn’t the rarity of getting struck by lightning. Herbig is making the big plays routinely. He has three forced fumbles in his last three games while filling in for Highsmith. Pro Football Focus now has him as their fifth best edge rusher in the league.
Highsmith is expected to be available this week. But don’t worry, Tomlin told the media on Tuesday that there’s enough work for all parties. T.J. Watt, and Highsmith will lead the charge, but don’t be surprised to see a healthy mix of Herbig and Preston Smith as well.
When Mike Tomlin challenges a player and they respond, that is a lot of trust and respect earned. Herbig is that guy.
