Scout’s Eye with Matt Williamson: Do you let Nick Herbig walk?

Scout’s Eye with Matt Williamson: Do you let Nick Herbig walk?

[Music] Hello, I’m Matt Williamson. How’s it going? Uh, we are mailbagging it up tonight there today before I hop on a jet to go to Dublin. Pretty psyched about it. Travel’s not going to be super great, but you know how that goes. Um, let’s just dig right in. We got a bunch of questions. Good stuff as usual. Uh, Bruce ain’t here asks, “What do you think we pay Herbig? Edoom is only getting older and he keeps improving. Seems like while that while early that Nick and Jack could be the future.” Well, let’s, you know, first things last here. Last things first. I don’t see Sawyer as the future. I just don’t. I think he’s a special teamer, fourth guy, run stuffer. I am not putting faith in him as an impact edge rusher at all. Herbig on the other hand, I’ve kind of assumed that Herbig, not after this season, but after the next, would just leave. You know that he’s going to demand a lot of money on the open market and get a comp pick for him when he signs a decent deal somewhere else. And you got a lot invested in Highmith and Watt. And it’s why I picked this question first because after watching him last week and it’s kicked around in my cranium for a while now, but I just don’t think you let that guy leave. I really don’t. I I think what you do while you have the money when they have a lot this off season is you give them a nice extension now while at next off season and give them a and pay them well. And I know that’s a ton of money invested in the defense. A ton of money invested in one position, but edge rushers are unbelievably valuable. He is ascending and I just don’t think you can let a guy like that walk no matter what, no matter how you cut it. So, he has not made a ton of money by NFL standards. Maybe get him at a little bit of a discount, you know, ahead of the game before he hits the market. Now then I think you entertain and we’ll see how the rest of this this uh season plays out. Of course Herbig might fall in his face. I don’t think that’ll happen. But then I think you entertain trade offers for Highmith. Durab durability has been a concern. Okay. I mean, yes, but I also think that it would be nice to stagger Watt and Herbig in terms of age without the guy in between there. And you wouldn’t be in a huge hurry. You could kind of wait for the right deal. You know, sign Herbig after this year, give him a nice extension, three years, whatever, and you’d have a lot of money tied up. But then you just start listening for offers. And you could also use one of those third round picks next year on an edge rusher, too. I mean, I think Kai Smith, assuming he can stay healthy and has another productive career or season this year, could bring you something good in return. Maybe it even helps you yield the next quarterback or move up. or I mean maybe I mean depending how the season goes would Dallas or more likely the ners who just lost Bosa give you a lot for him at this trade deadline now you probably want them for this year assuming this season there the Steelers are still a contender but I think you could entertain offers for Highmith um I didn’t really look at it that way before I still think he’s a really good player and as you know having that conversation right now at the end of September that you would think his stock would be a little down but if he comes back and he’s a player he has been I mean ends up with 10 sacks again those guys are valuable man and I just think in the end you don’t let her big walk it’s just too much he’s he’s just been too good and what he brings to the table is too rare of a consistent pass rusher and then you you know maybe you bump Sawyer up to the three if you were to move highmith or more likely I think you would draft somebody and try to develop into the next Hervig or whatever. Probably not a first round pick but like a third round guy. Um it’s funny this question was asked because over the last 48 hours or so I’m just thinking he’s got to be a long-term Steeler. I I mean, you can’t let him walk. [Applause] [Music] Football season’s finally here. Time to check out the latest odds, futures, and win totals on the FanDuel sports book. Think the Steelers are headed to the Super Bowl? Lock in your bets today. Whatever your game, FanDuel Sportsbook delivers the latest lines, futures, and specials so you can join in on all the action. If you guys ever had to hire someone, you know it can be so timeconuming, sifting through tons of resumes, trying to get in touch with every candidate. Well, not anymore because Zip Recruiter’s latest tools and features speed up finding the right people so you can save valuable time. And now you can try Zip Recruiter for free at ziprecruiter.com/audio. Over 320 new résumés are added every month, guys. 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Rich Pernestie asks, “Are you surprised by the relative lack of tight end usage, not in the formations, but the actual targets?” Uh, yes. Yeah, I am. Um, now this past game they did not run a ton of plays and as much as Warren was getting the ball, there’s not a lot of pieces of pie left for everybody else. That being said, as much tight end on the field us, you know, usage we’re seeing snap-wise, you need more production from these guys. I think you need more targets from these guys. And it really shocked me that New England wasn’t where that started, especially considering the lack of coverage abilities from the Patriots linebackers, including Spain and safeties. Now, Minnesota is also not super strong up the middle, but they’re pretty darn good. Um, that defense is hard to find holes in in in general, but I do think you could probably attack those linebackers. Um, I don’t have a lot more to add to this conversation other than yes, it definitely shocks me that collectively they don’t have more targets, more catches. I tend to think that’s coming. Um, I kind of have a running joke going with my my buddies that every week I put a a buck down on Washington anytime touchdown and the one time he caught a two-point conversion, the one time he got a drew a defensive pass interference. I mean, like that stuff’s coming, but I also think his usage will be even more so in the middle of the field, not just in the red zone. Um, Frier Muth and Smith we know can be quality receivers. So, yeah, I’m pretty darn shocked by that to be honest with you. Um, WTF asks, “Matt, are we oh so close to having the O line clicking? Do teams spend multiple seasons in that mode without reaching the goal?” Um, teams, yeah, I mean, I think teams hold out hope and hope and it’s rare for an entire O line to all click together to the point I think that you’re implying here. But I lean towards yes I think it’s a good group that’s showing little baby steps you know to quote what about Bob you know baby stepping but they’re not probably going to take a leap you know I don’t think this week we’re just going to look at be like whoa that’s a great O line I think it’s just going to be a slow grind it process where Falanu for example takes two steps forward and then he takes a step back and then he doesn’t take any steps and then he takes another step and then maybe another and then another step back and we’ve definitely seen that with Brick Jones. But I will say this past week, especially in protection without question, it took a step forward. So I think we’re just going to have to be patient. And I know that this is not a patient profession or fandom or sport, but O lines weren’t built overnight. And two, three years from now, you might be like, man, we got like the best center in the league and the best right tackle and, you know, a top five line that should hold up like the Pouncy Dcastro days. Matt Sable asked, “The number of teams needing QBs seem to be going up just as the number of college quarterbacks playing well seem to be going down. Are you worried the Steelers will be shut out of the top quality QBs in the draft?” Um, I I always tell myself I’m going to be laser focused on the college quarterbacks and draft guys, and then it gets really hard for me to do. But I do get the impression, as you’re implying here, that this great group of quarterbacks maybe maybe is leveling out a little bit. Um, that we’ll still see. I mean, again, I I don’t want to comment too much on that end of this conversation because I haven’t watched them and it’s very early in the college season. And okay, Arch Manning probably won’t come out fine. But there’s still a lot of names to get excited about. Uh Matier just had surgery today, too. Maybe that works in the Steelers favor, you know, that maybe he would have went top eight and now you get him at 15 or something like that. Um I also think Mendoza, like at Indiana, is really exciting. And there’s still a lot of names, so it’s not like you’re tied to only two of them that you’d have to hit. But the reason I took this question is yes. I think I think I did a show with you guys two months ago or something when when times were quiet before camp and went through every team who could need a quarterback and I bet I sold that number short, you know, like how about Miami? How about Carolina? You know, I mean, teams like that, could they need quarterbacks now? Certainly could. I mean, they could have coaching changes. coaching changes usually mean quarterback changes. So maybe and I’m leaning towards yes that it seems to be the demand is rising. I can’t really comment if the supply is rising or not. But I lean towards it probably or if the supply is shrinking or not. But I do tend to lean towards you might be right that it is possibly shrinking. But just looking at every team and who I thought was in the, you know, potential quarterback market. I don’t know that many names changed or many many teams got out of the market all of a sudden other than maybe like Indie. Maybe Indie just says, “Boy, we won a lot of games with Daniel Jones. He played well. Let’s give him an extension. He’s our guy.” Okay. But there’s probably three or four other teams that have all of a sudden said I could use a first round quarterback and I’m picking ninth overall, you know. So, I I see what you’re saying there. Again, it’s only September, drafts in April. It’s not to get too crazy, but I think it’s worth keeping an eye on. And I I like that question. Uh Joseph A Banks asks, “Are the Steelers just playing survive and advance? do what it takes to win this week and hope to figure it out the issues as they go. Um, in a way, yes. And why I wanted to bring this up too is I don’t think that’s unique at all in this league right now in the first three, four weeks of the season. And every Tuesday on the drive, we go over NFL.com’s power ranks and doing that exercise. And I think they had like the Steelers 15 or 16, which I agree with. Okay, you’re right in the middle middle of the pack. But as we were doing it, man, the bottom of the league bottomed out even more than usual, it seems like just through three weeks. Like all the 0 and3 teams except for maybe the the the Texans look already shocked. Like I know I might be getting ahead of ourselves but you know Giants, Dolphins, Saints, Bland. I mean they have little hope for this year. And as we were doing those power ranks, we easily got 10 teams deep counting down 32 to1 and maybe as many as the bottom 12 where I just thought, man, these teams are in really bad shape right now. I mean that there is not a lot to get excited about as we sit here at the end of September. And then the the next tier like where the Steelers are at the middle of the road tier all had a big thing or two or three like the Steelers that are wrong with them right now. And then even the number one team, the Eagles, you know, I mean, like squeaked out a tough win with a a blocked field goal, but leading into that game, we didn’t know how their passing attack was going to be or the Chiefs that’s always has things figured out and steamrolls through the regular season. They have no weapons whatsoever. You know, like all I’m saying is I think all the teams early in the season nowadays with barely any preseason work and way less training camp work, it’s becoming more obvious to me every year that that’s exactly what these teams are doing for a week or two or three that we’re just trying to figure out a way to bite and scratch and get this win as opposed to man, okay, the the running game’s starting to come along well and we build off that. Yes, there’s some big picture thinking and we talked about how the Steeler O line looks like it’s getting a little better, especially in protection. I definitely think the Steeler defensive front is way more promising right now with Harmon returning and Cam looking like Cam and Black looking like a player and a Wall looking like a player where that’s what I thought it was going to be. Okay, that’s starting to take shape of what we thought it might be in the off season. But in the meantime, that group just had to bite and claw to survive. And if you can get two and one, three in one if you’re these teams that aren’t the total bottom feeders while you figure out your identity and what you’re good at and the things you thought you were good at in the off season that didn’t come true, I think that’s what the league’s become. And I won’t use those examples, excuses, whatever, as the season goes on. But there’s also so much change in this league. All of the new coaches, all the new quarterbacks, so much player movement from team to team. The Steelers were a heavy example of that this year. here. I mean, they brought in a lot of big names, but that doesn’t mean Ramsay, Slay, all these dudes have played with each other and have that teammate on the field communication, which we obviously saw was a problem against Seattle, you know, uh, Metaf and Rogers, I mean, yeah, they worked out together, but do they really have a rapport yet? It’s not like Rogers and Jordy Nelson, eight years together or whatever, you know? So again, that’s not going to be an excuse down the line, but there’s some sloppy play. There’s certainly I should have even opened this. It’s hard playing 60 snaps or playing a full game, whatever your role is. If you’re a backup outside linebacker or if you’re a starting guard that has to play every play, just fatigue wise playing snap after snap after snap or f doing a full-time role take some time to build up your stamina and your quote football shape and it’s hot, you know. So, I I I we I think we forget this every year, but I think it becomes more and more obvious every year that yeah, we get super excited about the regular season. And of course, every game means the same in the standings. That’s why you just are thrilled with you get a win no matter what, but all these teams are working stuff out right now. And clearly, the Steelers are no different. All right. Next time I’ll be talking to you, I will be overseas. We’ll see how that goes. uh report from Dublin. Definitely will give you a pregame pod breaking down matchups, etc. Excited for that as well. Over and out. [Music]

Should the Steelers keep and pay Nick Herbig or release him?

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