Mike Tomlin's latest comments suggest that a Steelers' rising star could make key starter expendable

If you watched Nick Herbig throughout training camp and the preseason, you know that he is on a meteoric rise.

Some going as far to give him the nickname: "Baby T.J. Watt" Herbig is set up to be a force in his sophomore campaign .

So much so, that HC Mike Tomlin might have a tough time keeping Herbig on the bench:

Nick Herbig On The Rise

"You know, he's [Herbig] behaving like a guy that's been a lap around the track, really," Tomlin said following Saturday's game. "We want to see significant growth in all those second-year players, and I think really he's an example of that, but he's not alone. We've liked what we've seen from guys like Spencer Anderson as well. He's just taken the jump. He's been there before. He's finding his footing, man. He wants to be impactful, and obviously, we're going to find a role for a guy like that, whether he's quote-unquote a starter or not, when he's got an opportunity to be significant. And he's shown that not only in stadium but in the team development work."

The Steelers have arguably one of, if not the best pass rushing duo in the league with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. And while I expect that duo to be in place for a while, with Herbig as the second coming of Watt, three excellent players for two spots is a good problem to have.

While it has been refuted multiple times by Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, you have to wonder if the rise of Herbig would make Alex Highsmith expendable for the Steelers in a potential Brandon Aiyuk trade.

The parameters are reportedly in place for that trade and have been for some time, but the saga has more twists and turns than a Hollywood script, meaning compensation could change, and fast.

That's especially true when analyzing the depth and injuries across from Nick Bosa in San Francisco.

But that's just a hypothesis. Odds are that all three pass rushers will be on the team in 2024, with Tomlin, Teryl Austin, and the rest of the coaches working to figure out playing time and division of labor as Coach Tomlin would say.

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