While Jack Sawyer doesn’t have the shared bond of being a Wisconsin Badger with fellow outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig, all three share the bond of being Pittsburgh Steelers. This offseason, Sawyer will join Herbig and Watt in Wisconsin to train for three weeks ahead of training camp, and Herbig thinks Sawyer is primed for a big season.
“Jack’s gonna have a big year. I think it’s gonna be a breakout year for him. He looks good, he leaned up, looks twitchy,” Herbig said on Cam Heyward’s Not Just Football Podcast. “He’s coming to Wisconsin with me and T.J. [Watt] this year for three weeks. I think that will be huge for him, but I expect him to have a big year.”
Herbig noted the group working out in Wisconsin also includes Philadelphia Eagles LB Zach Baun, who has been part of the group prior, as well as Tampa Bay Buccaneers OL Ben Bredeson and LB T.J. Edwards, among others. Herbig explained that it takes a “mental toughness” to work out with the group and that the training sessions are in “the middle of nowhere.”
“15 deep in there, and it’s like a hostile environment.”
Herbig and Watt have trained together in Wisconsin for multiple years, and it’ll be good to get Sawyer into the mix. The more wisdom Watt can impart on Pittsburgh’s younger outside linebackers, the better, and he’s working with Sawyer as he did with Herbig. Sawyer flashed last season, and if those flashes become more consistent, the Steelers’ outside linebacker room will be nearly impossible to slow down.
The better that Sawyer plays, the more of a break the Steelers can give the 31-year-old Watt and Alex Highsmith and avoid wearing them out early on. It sounds as though he’s already transformed his body a bit – Herbig mentioned him being leaner while Mark Kaboly of The Pat McAfee Show said Sawyer looks much stronger.
Now, he’ll continue to work out and keep his body in shape while getting tips from Watt and Herbig on how to get better. It’s a good trip for the three to bond and continue building and strengthening their relationship, but it should also have an impact on the field for all involved.
But with Sawyer being the youngest and being new to the group, it’s going to be interesting to see what he gleans from the trip and how he puts the work into practice. He very well could make Herbig’s prediction for a breakout year come to fruition.
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