Born exactly 26 1/2 years ago this week, Payton Wilson is roughly the median age for the Pittsburgh Steelers roster. He’s in his third NFL season after a mostly-stellar six seasons in college at NC State.

But sometimes when he’s watching game film, this starting inside linebacker turns back into a high school kid again.

That’s how athletic, playmaking Steelers safety Jalen Ramsey makes Wilson feel.

“It’s what I grew up watching,” Wilson said Monday, a day after Ramsey filled up the stat sheet in a 26-29 Steelers overtime win at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “I’ve seen him do it for however many years he’s been in the league now. It’s exceptional to see week in and week out.

“I’ve been seeing it for a long time, but it still wows you every time you see it.”

A versatile defensive back, a Ramsey sack ended Tampa Bay’s first and last possessions Sunday — the latter concluding the game in overtime. It was the second two-sack game of Ramsey’s career, the most of any defensive back since he entered the league as the No. 5 overall pick of the 2016 draft.

But the sacks of Jalon Daniels weren’t all Ramsey did at Raymond James Stadium: In playing all 74 of the Steelers’ defensive snaps, he finished with 10 overall tackles, nine solo tackles and four tackles for loss as a primary driver of the Steelers’ first road victory.

“He played amazing,” Steelers safety Jaquan Brisker said. “I knew he was going to because (before the game) he was talking in the locker room very loud and things like that. I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s about to be that time.’

“And he had a great week of practice. It was just that energy we felt. We knew, as a secondary that we had to step up this game, which we did, and we won. But (Ramsey) did amazing.”

Per the NFL, Ramsey was the first defensive back this century to have a game with least 10 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks in a single game.

His sack that ended overtime was only the third to do so in the NFL since at least 2000.

“ ‘PG’ (defensive coordinator Patrick Graham) made a great call,” Ramsey said of his blitz on the final play of the game. “He trusted me, and I was able to make a play.”

A three-time AP NFL All-Pro and eight-time Pro Bowl honoree, Ramsey is in his second season with the Steelers. He opened 2025 as a starting outside cornerback but was playing safety by the season’s midpoint. This year, Graham has been moving him all over the defense to take advantage of his athleticism and playmaking ability.

Arguably during none of his 23 games with the Steelers was Ramsey more impactful than Sunday.

“He was just flying — flying — all over the field,” outside linebacker Jack Sawyer said. “He brings that intensity every day to practice. He practices like it’s a game, that’s one thing that I respected about him, being a rookie last year, seeing a player who’s been All-Pro, (who has signed) a bunch of big contracts — and yet he still goes out there and plays so hard every practice, every snap.

“It’s motivating for us young guys. So, it’s nothing new having him fly around and make the hits and the sacks, the pass breakups. He’s a one-on-one type of player, too, on the defensive side of the ball. He means a lot to this team.”

Ramsey’s worth is shown by how many positions he plays. Mirroring what he’s done all season, Ramsey on Sunday, per Pro Football Focus, played 40 snaps as the slot corner, 21 at free safety, six as an in-the-box hybrid linebacker, one at outside cornerback and six on the defensive line — the latter most often in an effort to rush the passer.

And here’s the thing: Ramsey has done this over the past 3 1/2 games while playing with a wrist fracture, that hand wrapped up.

“He’s a great teammate,” Brisker said. “A great person.

“He’s funny, too, so he’s cool.”

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