Steelers Are Severely Underrating Their Own Elite Superstar

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a bunch of extensions that they are expected to sign soon. They already signed star kicker Chris Boswell to a new deal, but there are still more that are needed. Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. should get paid soon after he established himself as possibly the best press corner in the NFL. Meanwhile, Nick Herbig has a very interesting situation, as he deserves to get paid despite being the third edge rusher on the depth chart and only starting when someone else gets injured. When he's on the field, though, he is an absolute menace. 

There are other players due extensions, but the Steelers may be selling a player short. While making an appearance on NFL Daily, Gregg Rosenthal made a point to stick up for a Pittsburgh star as he puts him in the same conversation as the best players at that position.

"In 2024, Nick Herbig's pass rush win rate (PRWR) was so far ahead of the entire rest of the league," Rosenthal said. "He was 34%; the next closest was 25%. The next closest, by the way, was Will Anderson and Jonathan Greenard, and not far behind that: Nik Bonitto and Micah Parsons... Last year, after Nick Herbig went BACK-TO-BACK, the people right behind him are Nik Bonitto, Micah Parsons, Will Anderson, Abdul Carter, and Myles Garrett."

There has been a ton of debate about how reliable PRWR is as a stat, especially with the whole TJ Watt vs Myles Garrett debate. However, Herbig has dominated in that category, as Rosenthal spoke about. His small frame and explosive get-off make it nearly impossible for offensive linemen to get him away from the quarterback, especially since they constantly put at least two guys on Watt to slow him down and keep him out of the backfield. 

Rosenthal continued on, explaining how the Steelers are making a big mistake with how they utilize him each season.

"I still think that makes [Herbig] a little underrated," Rosenthal said. "What they did was up his usage -- mostly because of injury early in the season -- and then they put him back on the bench. At the end of the season, he only had one game in the last seven or eight games with over 30 snaps. So he's not underrated by Joe Fan; he's underrated by the Steelers."

It's a good problem to have, but the Steelers have a huge problem. They have three elite edge rushers on the team and only enough space on the field for two of them. Watt and Alex Highsmith have seniority and a much larger salary, so they get the starts over the back-to-back PRWR champion. Obviously, analytics aren't everything, and Steeler Nation would know that better than anyone, but there still is something to the young star's accomplishments. 

Herbig likely does benefit from playing on the Steelers, as he's usually left on an island with the opposing offensive tackle. At the same time, Pittsburgh should take more advantage of that fact. Getting to the quarterback on one out of every three dropbacks is insanely impressive. Not even Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, has come close to those numbers. This outside linebacker group is just one giant cheat code.

Steelers Have 1 Big Issue With Herbig

The main reason he does not get a ton of snaps is because he is not big enough to set the edge on run plays. One of his biggest strengths in the passing game is simultaneously a weakness. That leads to Watt and Highsmith primarily getting snaps on first down with Jack Sawyer stepping in if one of them is injured. If he works on that and gets better, Pittsburgh will be forced to give him more reps no matter who is on the team.

What do you think about Herbig being underrated by the Steelers despite putting up elite numbers? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.