What will happen to Nick Herbig’s playing time when Alex Highsmith returns?
With Alex Highsmith on the verge of returning, Nick Herbig will have a reduced role, but to what extent, exactly? In the weeks since Highsmith’s injury, Herbig has played well, a continuation of his first two seasons. During that time, coaches began speaking of him as one of three starters, but how do you work that out?
A fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Nick Herbig has proven to be a real find. In roughly a season’s worth of playing time, he has put up borderline Pro Bowl numbers. In particular, he has delivered in the takeaway department, forcing numerous fumbles. He even managed an interception earlier this season.
But while Herbig has been exciting to watch develop, Alex Highsmith is not to be overlooked—as he often is. Even some beat writers are now of the opinion that they’ll let him walk at the end of his contract, but he is a quality starter. When healthy, he is probably a top-15 player at his position, which is sometimes easy to forget.
Needless to say, the Steelers will endeavor to play all three, and sometimes simultaneously. Both coaches and players have confirmed that when Highsmith returns, so will the 3-OLB package. But that will only get Herbig on the field for so many extra snaps per game—maybe a dozen or so, and that might be generous.
The only real way to treat both Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig as “starters” in any meaningful sense is to reduce Highsmith’s snaps. Of course, you can eat into T.J. Watt’s snaps a bit more, as well. But There’s a reason the Steelers are paying him $41 million per year. He’s not about to spend a third of every game on the bench—that’s just not going to happen.
So we’ll see, perhaps quite soon, how seriously the Steelers consider Herbig a starter. Will he play upwards of 50 percent of the snaps, through a rotation and 3-OLB snaps? Or will we hear instead “starter in waiting” rhetoric while Herbig plays 20 snaps per game?
After another disappointing season and months of retooling, the Steelers are set to try it all again in 2025. Though they limped into the playoffs, they once again embarrassed themselves therein.
Just like last year, the biggest question hanging over the Steelers isthe quarterback question. They settled in on Aaron Rodgers, but we still have a lot to learn about him. The2025 NFL Draft class could play a big role, but veteran additions like Jalen Ramsey will be paramount.
Now we are in the regular season. From Rodgers to George Pickens to Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ramsey, we’ve seen the Steelers make some big changes. Now it’s about evaluating the roster in place and figuring out how it all works out.
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