**How much will Jack Sawyer play this season?**
Jack Sawyer is the sort of Steelers player who quickly becomes a fan favorite long before he ever actually plays. He has the look, he has a pedigree combined with an underdog narrative, and he says the right things. For those who appreciate football and a particular style of football, it’s just hard not to like him.
But Sawyer is also coming into a position group that is one of the deepest on the edge in the NFL. Not only do the Steelers have T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith as starters, but they also have Nick Herbig in reserve. When your rotational pass rusher is producing splash plays at a good clip, do you want to risk altering that?
The general characterization is that Herbig is stronger as a pass rusher, while Jack Sawyer’s strength lies more in run defense. There might be some general truth to that, but neither seems deficient in either area. If the Steelers want to give Watt and Highsmith more snaps off, having two reserves would obviously help.
On the whole, though, they haven’t really reduced their starters’ snaps a ton. Even while presumably looking to find ways to get Herbig on the field more, it hasn’t always yielded much work. For that reason and others, it’s not clear that there will be much of a role for Sawyer as a rookie.
Obviously, he will have a significant role on special teams, as Herbig did as a rookie. The Steelers will expect Jack Sawyer to play 300-plus snaps in that phase of the game. And excelling there won’t hurt in an effort to earn more snaps on defense. As Mike Tomlin always says, many of the skills that lead one to excel on special teams translate to defense.
Nick Herbig logged nearly 200 snaps as a rookie during the 2023 season. It’s worth noting that Watt and Highsmith did make every game that year, each playing over 900 snaps. Last year, Watt hit over 900 again, but Highsmith was limited to 525 due to injury. That allowed Herbig to play over 400 snaps. If the group stays healthy, then it won’t be easy to find snaps for Jack Sawyer. But if they really wanted to, and he earns it, they could make it work.
_The Steelers are rebuilding, or reloading, whatever they feel the need to call it, after another disappointment last season. Though they limped into the playoffs, they once again embarrassed themselves therein._
_Just like last year, the biggest question hanging over the Steelers is_ [_the quarterback question_](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/04/schrager-thinks-steelers-passing-on-qb-in-1st-round-means-theyre-all-in-on-aaron-rodgers/)_. While they ultimately traded George Pickens, they have other decisions to make. The_ [_2025 NFL Draft class_](https://www.steelers.com/draft/) _is now behind us, so most of the roster construction is complete._
_But we still have a long offseason ahead for Steelers football, or football in shorts. At least we can finally put the Aaron Rodgers situation to bed and move on to other things. Now it’s about evaluating the roster in place and filling holes as we go._