In T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig, the Steelers have three plus pass rushers. Now they have to get their money’s worth. The truth is, they haven’t been doing a bad job in getting them all involved. Sure, injuries have helped even out playing time, but Herbig’s opportunities already ticked up in 2025.
Now that they’re paying him $25 million per season, of course, there’s even more incentive to keep him heavily involved. Watt believes the Steelers can do it with the pass rushers they have, for one simple reason.
“Oh, we’re deep, obviously”, Watt said via the Steelers’ website when asked about using their pass rusher depth. “And we really care about each other, too. That’s the cool thing about this group: we’re constantly trying to help each other out. We don’t care who makes the plays; we just want to be as successful as we possibly can. We want to work together and just continue to grow. I’m just really happy with how things have started this summer”.
Between Watt, Herbig, and Highsmith, the Steelers had three pass rushers record 7-plus sacks last season. Watt and Highsmith both missed a big chunk of time due to injuries, the former suffering a partially collapsed lung. Even Herbig didn’t fully escape injury, which forced then-rookie Jack Sawyer to step up.
Of course, Sawyer is a part of the Steelers’ pass rushers, too. But he’s the baby of the group, working to push his way into the rotation. He certainly has the physical chops, and he played well as a rookie. But it’s hard enough to take T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith off the field. When you’re already trying to find Nick Herbig playing time, what is left?
Of course, the team is also planning for the future. Watt is on the wrong side of 30, at which point it’s difficult to predict when to cut bait. It’s reasonable to assume that he is now past his prime. But his prime is still better than all but a small handful of pass rushers, a fact the Steelers are not about to ignore just because they have others.
But Watt is also at a point in his career where his priority is to pursue a Super Bowl. If it takes a platoon of pass rushers for the Steelers to achieve that, he’s not going to complain. The reality is, as the elder statesman of the room, he’s had a hand in the development of the rest of the group. Their success is a reflection of him, and he takes pride in watching guys like Herbig and Sawyer blossom.
But ultracompetitiveness is also what drives athletes at this level to the top, so you can’t take that away. That puts the onus on the coaches to manage the rotation and find ways to get everyone involved. The overriding concern is the Steelers having the pass rushers on the field necessary to make plays. The best way to do that is to keep fresh rushers on the field, and with that comes a certain level of selflessness. When you have a bond as the Steelers’ pass rushers do, that’s a lot easier to accomplish.