UNITY TWP., Pa — The first two days of seeing Nick Herbig on the training camp field have been impressive. Herbig’s rookie status has never been less evident, and he seemingly busts out multiple moves to win each day. But one move is a move that did not show up on his college tape. That would be his new ghost move, which Von Miller created and has now caught wildfire around the league.
The Steelers have two guys who specialize in that move, too. Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt both use a ghost move that has produced sacks for them over the years. But Herbig looked up to Watt his entire career at Wisconsin. This is nothing new for him to be learning new tricks from him. So, when he asked Watt to teach him his ghost move, Watt did so happily and with a smile on his face.
“Yeah, I added a little duck-under,” Herbig said. “I saw T.J. do it on film and I asked him to teach me. He did and some it’s part of moveset now.”
Going up against the long tackles the Steelers have on the roster, he would have registered at least two sacks with his rip-and-dip move, the patented move that has gotten him places at Wisconsin. I thought he did a great job of reducing his surface area and showing off some high-level bend. He’s only 230 pounds, so he better be showing off those traits. The ghost move does a great job of playing off that. Moreover, he’s started to work in a long arm move despite not having great length. That allows the ghost move to really pop.
Herbig’s burst was something that stood out to me the first time I saw him. He’s light and in run drills will probably struggle. But he’s a specific sub-package edge rusher right now who could be a boon in specific situations. I do wonder if they try to cross-train him at off-ball linebacker at some point, but for right now, Herbig is making his niche look plausible on the team.