The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense is still holding up, but the last three games have left a few rough edges showing. After a strong opening two weeks, the unit has given up 22 points to the Indianapolis Colts and 27 points apiece to the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. That’s not a disaster, but it’s also not the standard the Steelers want from that side of the ball.
One of the biggest names in that conversation is Nick Herbig. The 24-year-old edge rusher signed a massive extension and became the team’s second-highest paid defensive player behind T.J.
Watt, which naturally puts the spotlight on him even harder. Through five games, though, the production just hasn’t followed.
Herbig has 12 tackles, but he still hasn’t registered a sack. His pass-rush numbers are thin, too: one quarterback hit, one pressure and 0.0 sacks. That kind of start would raise eyebrows for anyone, and it’s fair to ask whether there’s real cause for concern.
The answer right now seems to be: not quite yet.
There have been enough flashes to keep the alarm from going off. Herbig still shows off the athleticism that makes him dangerous, and he’s been effective when asked to drop into coverage. According to Pro Football Reference data, quarterbacks have targeted him just twice in coverage, and both throws fell incomplete.
Even with the lack of splash plays, the speed is still there on film. The problem is that it hasn’t translated into the kind of impact snaps the Steelers have come to expect from him, but there’s still time for that to change.
What is more troubling is how Pittsburgh is deploying him. Herbig has played 161 defensive snaps through five weeks, which comes out to about 52% of the team’s total defensive snaps. That’s still a limited role, and fewer snaps mean fewer chances to wreck a play.
The Steelers are also using him in three-edge-rusher packages, where he’s often lined up in the box as an off-ball linebacker. He handles the job, but it’s not exactly the best setup for an edge player whose value comes from creating problems near the quarterback.
Missed tackles have been part of the frustration, too. In Week 5, Herbig shot into the backfield from the weak side but couldn’t finish off Jonathan Taylor, and the play turned into positive yardage for the Colts.
That wasn’t an isolated issue. Game data from PFF shows he has missed on just over 35% of his tackle attempts in 2026.
If this is how the Steelers plan to use him going forward, then the concern level will only rise. The hope is that defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has a few answers ready to get their $25 million linebacker moving in the right direction.
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