Steelers linebacker Nick Herbig grew up having to prove himself. It hasn't stopped in the NFL

PITTSBURGH — Nick Herbig grew up as the youngest of three brothers on the island of Kauai.

That meant he needed to prove himself if he wanted to hang with the big kids.

Over and over and over.

“I was always the underdog," the Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker said Wednesday. “I was always expected to be last. Always the smallest. Always the slowest, the shortest, whatever it may be. So I always had a chip on my shoulder.”

Fast forward a decade or so, and not much has changed. That drive has never left Herbig. Not after a breakout season at Wisconsin in 2022 when he led the Big Ten in sacks.

Certainly not in Pittsburgh, where Herbig rapidly won over the coaching staff and his teammates with a relentlessness mined from somewhere deep within.

“He’s hardworking and humble, and I really think that tees up performance for him,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.

“But he also has ridiculous belief in self. And that’s attractive to coaches. That’s attractive to older players. He’s not a guy that’s ever scared.”

Mostly because Herbig figures he never really had a choice. Not with older brothers Jake and Nate — a veteran offensive lineman who joined the Steelers shortly before Pittsburgh selected Nick in the fourth round of the 2023 draft — making him prove it every day growing up on the island of Kauai in Hawaii.

Asked how he managed to get the best of Nate — who at 6-foot-4 and 334 pounds has nearly two inches and 100 pounds on his little brother — and Nick just laughed.

“A lot of hit and run,” he said. “I'm not a scared man, I'm a smart man. So I get my licks in when I can and dip out.”

Which isn't that far removed from the way Herbig plays. There is a fury that accompanies Herbig at seemingly every snap. He knows he's a little undersized for the NFL. He knows his job requirements task him with taking on offensive tackles whose shadow he would fit in comfortably.

Yet he has made being a disruptive force in the backfield commonplace during his burgeoning career. Herbig had three sacks as a rookie in 2023 when he played just 17% of the defensive snaps while receiving a daily close-up on what it takes to excel from All-Pro T.J. Watt and longtime running mate Alex Highsmith.

It hasn't taken long for Herbig to absorb the lessons Watt and Highsmith dole out with regularity. When Highsmith left Sunday's 20-10 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers with a groin injury that will force him to miss time, Herbig came on in the third quarter and dropped Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert to stall a Chargers drive before it even really began.

Herbig did it again in the fourth, this time taking down Taylor Heinicke with a speed rush that looked — if you narrowed your eyes a bit — like something straight out of Watt's toolbox.

It's not a coincidence. Herbig spent a portion of the summer training alongside Watt in Wisconsin, an experience that Watt described as Herbig being “stuck to my hip, I couldn't get away from him.”

Herbig does something that makes his No. 51 jump out to Tomlin so often that Tomlin was caught by a microphone during the preseason saying he might need to start calling the 22-year-old “Mr. Herbig,” though don't expect Watt to give Herbig the same satisfaction.

“Absolutely not, never will,” the three-time NFL sack champion said with a smile.

Still, Watt admits he sees signs of Herbig making the leap from sometimes frantic rookie who gets by on energy alone to a somewhat more refined pass rusher.

“He’s been a sponge to everything and it’s been so cool to see him continue to grow and ask the right questions,” Watt said. “And he’s not afraid to ask questions and then go out and try new moves and fail and get better.”

Steelers left tackle Dan Moore Jr. has seen that development firsthand. There were times last season when Moore and Herbig would be lined up against each other during practice and Moore could tell by Herbig's stance what was coming. Not so much in 2024.

“I think he’s just doing a better job of setting things up this year, making things look the same,” Moore said.

Herbig will likely have to expand his repertoire as his resume grows. He will likely make his first NFL start on Sunday when the Steelers (3-0) visit Indianapolis (1-2).

He's fully prepared for the Colts to test him and see if he's big enough and strong enough to set the edge on running plays, a part of Herbig's game that remains very much in development.

He also understands that for all the attention he might get for finding his way to the quarterback, there is another level he needs to get to.

Yes, Watt is putting together a Hall of Fame career because of the sacks he racks up. Yet Watt is hardly a pass-rush specialist. The lesson in that isn't lost on Herbig.

“I think if you want to be an elite player and play at an elite level, you got to play all three downs,” Herbig said.

He's off to a good start. But he's hardly arrived. And Herbig knows that better than anyone. There is much work to be done and more doubters to silence.

“I’m not supposed to be here,” he said. “I’m just from Kauai, like 60,000 people in the middle of the ocean. So, you know, I've got to have (an) edge to get here.”

NOTES: Highsmith, RB Jaylen Warren (knee) and RB Najee Harris (rest) did not practice Wednesday. ... QB Russell Wilson (calf), CB DeShon Elliott (quadriceps) and G Isaac Seumalo (pectoral) were limited.