The Steelers are dealing with a tough break with Alex Highsmith sidelined, but there’s a silver lining: we may be about to see a lot more of Nick Herbig — and that could actually make the defense better.
Herbig has been crazy efficient this season. Even though he hasn’t been a full-time starter, he’s leading the league in several versions of pass rush win rate, putting up numbers between 32% and 36% depending on which metric you look at. In simple terms, that means he’s beating his blocker within 2.5 seconds on a huge percentage of his pass rush snaps.
And he’s not just doing well — he’s outpacing some big names. The closest player to him is Will Anderson Jr., who sits at about 33%, with Nik Bonnito and Myles Garrett not far behind. When you're hanging with (and even beating) players who are on the field way more often, that says a lot.
What makes this even more exciting for Steelers fans is that Herbig has done all this without getting starter-level snaps. With Highsmith out, that’s about to change. Yes, losing Highsmith hurts the team’s depth — no question. But giving Herbig more chances could actually improve the pass rush if his elite efficiency carries over with more playing time.
Long story short: Herbig has been a spark in limited action, and with a bigger role on the horizon, he might be ready to turn that spark into something even bigger for the Steelers’ defense.