Change isn’t easy, but it’s sparking excitement for a Pittsburgh Steelers defense looking to make strides after a disappointing 2025.
Count Nick Herbig as one player happy to see what new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is cooking up.
“There’s definitely gonna be a lot of moving parts, a lot of new looks. I’m excited to get after it with him in Latrobe at training camp,” Herbig said during a Thursday interview on NFL Network’s The Insiders. “Put the pads on and really get to see what it looks like in preseason and go out there in the season and execute it. I’m excited.”
Herbig admitted he couldn’t spill all the team’s secrets, and the overall structure of the Steelers’ 3-4 defense will remain the same. Still, there’s plenty of tweaking and adjusting Graham can do to take the group to another level.
Last year, Pittsburgh’s run defense was too inconsistent. Its pass rush was prone to disappearing and the third-down defense was among the NFL’s worst, especially in intermediate and long situations.
There’s plenty on Graham’s plate to fix. He comes well-regarded as an experienced coordinator with more resources in Pittsburgh than he had during his four-year stint with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Signed to a $100 million extension, Herbig should see the field plenty. Pittsburgh will lean on its outside linebacker strength with packages that feature T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Herbig all on the field. It was a grouping attempted in the past but not used enough, even when the group was fully healthy.
For all the “new” to work, Herbig knows everyone must row the same boat.
“We need to play as a team and everyone has to be on board,” he said. “We can’t have five guys doing their own thing and the other six doing a different thing. We need to be all 11 on the field. Need to be together, a cohesive unit.”
Pittsburgh is in the unenviable position of facing two top offenses in division. The Baltimore Ravens have one of the NFL’s best rushing offenses. The Cincinnati Bengals have one of the NFL’s best passing offenses. Even the Cleveland Browns can’t be discounted with a solid running game, rebuilt offensive line and new head coach in Todd Monken who just wrapped up a stint with Baltimore.
Graham, Herbig and the rest are ready to accept the challenge for Pittsburgh.
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