One of the roster needs the Pittsburgh Steelers headed into the offseason with was inside linebacker. The front office absolutely gutted the roster, replacing three guys with extensive starter experience with two veterans. This leaves another spot on that depth chart for a player who can come in and be part of the rotation.
That person could be Wisconsin linebacker Nick Herbig. Here is what Pro Football Focus had to say about Herbig as a sleeper in this draft class.
Herbig likely isn’t getting buzz at the moment because he was an on-ball linebacker for Wisconsin who will have to play off-ball in the NFL because of his size (6-foot-2, 227 pounds). That’s obviously always going to add an extra layer of uncertainty. Having seen Herbig take on blocks and play in space, however, I’m convinced that he can make the transition with ease.
He boasts some of the best range and change-of-direction ability in the entire draft class. On his very few snaps dropping into coverage this past season (95), Herbig showed an understanding of how route concepts developed. In fact, on those limited coverage snaps, Herbig broke up more passes (three) than Clemson linebacker Trenton Simpson did for his entire career.
The film backs up Herbig’s strengths and it isn’t hard to extrapolate his ability to expand his game to the next level. Not to mention, with his big brother Nate already on the Steelers, the family connection is there that Pittsburgh loves so much.
Herbig is a day-three prospect and the Steelers are short on day-three picks. This is a very deep linebacker class and if that would push Herbig to the seventh round where the Steelers have two picks, the team might get a real bargain.
