Steelers Lose Starting Center to Significant Injury

Pittsburgh Steelers lost their starting center to a significant injury, sidelining him for a while.

Jul 27, 2023; Latrobe, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers guard Nate Herbig (71) participates in drills during training camp at Saint Vincent College. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports | Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly losing a key player to injury, in starting center Nate Herbig.

Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Herbig suffered a siginficant shoulder injury, whihc will keep him out for a long period of time. This also puts rookie Zach Frazier at the starting position, where he will begin the regular season.

Nate Herbig, the starting center since the beginning of training camp, has a significant shoulder injury that will keep him out for an extended period of time, per sources. That means rookie Zach Frazier becomes the starter and will begin the regular season there.

— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) August 17, 2024

The Steelers selected Frazier with the No. 51 overall pick in the Second Round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of West Virginia and he'll have his chance to show his talents in his first season in the league.

Herbig signed a two-year contract with the Steelers on March 16, 2023 and played in all 17 regular season games last season, mostly on special teams. He started Week 4 in a 30-6 loss on the road to the Houston Texans and Week 5 in a 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens at home, playing 100% snaps in both of them at guard.

He started out in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, playing three seasons for them from 2019-21. He played in two games as a rookie in 2019, but increased it dramatically to 15 games in 2020, starting 12 of them. He finished his tenure with the Eagles with 16 appearances in 2022 and five starts.

Herbig spent the 2022 season with the New York Jets after the claimed him off waives and he started in all 11 games he played in.

He played for Stanford in college from 2016-18, earning First Team All-Pac 12 honors as a sophomore in 2017 and Second Team All-Pac 12 honors as a junior in 2018. He chose to forgo his senior season and went undrafted in 2019.

Herbig hails from Hawaii and played for Saint Louis School in Honolulu and earned All State honors as a senior in 2015.

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