Steelers notes: Max Scharping stays sharp at center; Nick Herbig salutes ex-Steeler brother
When Ryan McCollum was unable to practice early during Pittsburgh Steelers training camp, veteran guard Max Scharping was getting reps as the second-team center.
All part of the job description for a player whose role is as a reserve interior offensive lineman.
“Just showing that I can do it,” Scharping said. “That I can still do it.”
Scharping’s lone NFL regular-season game experience at center (per Pro Football Focus data) came while playing for the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2023 regular-season finale. But Scharping spent that preseason with the Bengals playing plenty at center.
Drafted as a guard by the Houston Texans in the 2019 second round, Scharping was the team’s primary starter at left guard for two seasons and at right guard in 2021. During two seasons in Cincinnati, his only starts were three playoff games in the Bengals’ run to the 2022 AFC championship game.
Signed off the Washington Commanders practice squad last Oct. 1, Scharping was typically in uniform for Steelers games the remainder of the season but appeared in only three — getting his lone snaps on offense at left guard.
“You just have to be adaptable and be a plug-and-play guy if you can,” Scharping said.
Scharping will turn 29 before the Steelers break camp at Saint Vincent. Among the 15 offensive linemen in Steelers camp, only starting left guard Isaac Seumalo and reserve tackle Calvin Anderson are older. Scharping has more NFL starts to his credit (36, including playoffs) than every Steelers lineman other than Seumalo.
As such, Scharping embraces a veteran role.
“Anytime you’re around guys who you think you can help out, you always try to,” Scharping said. “They’re my teammates first and foremost. So I’m just trying to make sure that they understand the scheme, understand, footwork, hand placement, anything that I can think that I can help them with, I try to. They’re a good group.”
Bye, brother
A year ago at this time, Nate Herbig was running with the first-team offense as the Steelers’ starting center.
On Tuesday, just a few weeks after his 27th birthday, Herbig was placed on the retired list of the Commanders.
Nate’s younger brother is Steelers outside linebacker Nick Herbig.
“I want to give a shout-out to him — he’s a G.O.A.T,” Nick Herbig said, referencing the acronym for “greatest of all time.”
Nate Herbig spent the previous two seasons with the Steelers, appearing in all 17 games in 2023 while making two starts at right guard. The following season, Herbig was a veritable placeholder at starting center until last year’s second-round pick, Zach Frazier, was ready to take over. That came more quickly than anticipated when Herbig suffered a shoulder injury during the final 2024 practice at Saint Vincent.
He was placed on season-ending injured reserve.
Nate Herbig, who like his brother went to high school in Honolulu, played three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and one with the New York Jets.
“I wouldn’t be here without him, for real,” Nick Herbig said. “I’m super blessed to have somebody like that in my life that, you know, paved the way for me and paved the way for so many kids back from Hawaii, so I’m super honored to be his brother.”
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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