Circumstances call for more playing time for these four Steelers players

3. EDGE Nick Herbig

One player who might be completely underutilized right now is rookie pass rusher, Nick Herbig. The former Wisconsin star was once thought to be a high draft pick before measuring in small and testing as an average athlete at the NFL Combine. You wouldn't know that he wasn't an elite athlete by watching him play.

Herbig has a relentless motor to pair with remarkable speed and bend off the edge. This flashed often during the season and allowed him to easily rake in some high-quality sacks. Herbig has just one sack on the season (which came against the Rams in Week 7), but this has far more to do with his limited usage than his inability to get after the quarterback.

Entering Week 11, the talented pass rusher has recorded just 85 snaps on defense. This past week against the Packers, Herbig chipped in just 2 snaps compared to 66 for T.J. Watt and 63 for Alex Highsmith.

There's no question that Watt and Highsmith need to be playing a majority of the time, but Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin are going to run their two best pass rushers until the wheels fall off. They need to figure out a much better rotation on the edge in order to keep Watt and Highsmith fresh for a potential playoff push, and Nick Herbig is a player the team needs to start trusting to see the field more.