Steelers' Rookie Jack Sawyer Receives Huge Praise From OLB Coach Denzel Martin

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had an exciting edge rusher room for many years now. Star linebacker TJ Watt is not present for mandatory minicamp, but that means the young guys will get more reps and get a better chance to develop. Nick Herbig will work with the first-team defense and get a chance to prove that he deserves more snaps. Meanwhile, rookie pass rusher Jack Sawyer will be on deck with the second-team, along with some other players that are looking to make the 53-man roster. 

During a recent post-practice interview, Outside Linebackers Coach Denzel Martin was asked about Sawyer in his first ever NFL offseason. He had nothing but praise for the fourth-round draft steal.

"Ah, Sawyer, he's been great, man," Martin said. "He's eager to learn. He's the type of guy that he wants more, trying to get in on the weekends. That dude is everything you saw on that tape in college. I think he's coming to life out here. That dude, he's just going to be someone that's really fun to work with. I love his size that he has, I love the way he's moving his body, so it's exciting."

Martin may have the best job in the NFL: working with arguably the best edge rusher group in the NFL. Adding Sawyer to the mix when he wasn't even supposed to be on the board in the fourth round is just the icing on top. The hard part for him and Head Coach Mike Tomlin will be rotating all these players around to make sure they all get the necessary snap counts to thrive. 

Sawyer likely won't see too many meaningful snaps in his rookie season, especially on defense. Instead, he will likely see a lot of usage on special teams to prove that he can make plays in the open field before getting a real chance to rush the quarterback. The position group is absolutely stacked.

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Even when Watt comes back, there is still the concern of the time that he has missed, depending on when he ends the contract dispute and puts pen to paper. While he had a generational year last time he missed training camp, he was 26. He is 30 years old now, and he's coming off of his worst year since 2022 when he missed extensive time and only had 5.5 sacks. 

If Watt misses all of preseason again, Herbig could see a lot of reps opposite of Alex Highsmith to begin the year until the former Defensive Player of the Year is back up to speed and can handle a whole workload again. That might even give Sawyer an increased chance to rotate in every now and then, especially to help keep Highsmith fresh. 

There's also the question of if Watt is slowing down and/or opposing teams have figured him out. If that is the case, then Herbig and Sawyer could see an increased role as well. Even with the contract that Watt would eventually sign, you still want to do what's best for your team. If that means Watt needs to see a minor decrease in snaps, then that may happen.

Obviously, the hope is that Watt bounces back to form with a new extension in hand and goes back to dominating the entire NFL, while Highsmith takes advantage of all the attention going to his partner in crime. Herbig would still rotate in regularly for both of them while Sawyer gets a few snaps here and there as he learns how the system works.