Two years ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers would have felt confident at inside linebacker. They signed Patrick Queen to a large contract before the 2024 season, after he had a successful start to his career in Baltimore. They hoped he’d help bring along Payton Wilson, whom the Steelers also brought in that offseason with a third-round pick.
Unfortunately, neither of the two has really lived up to expectations so far. Queen has had some very good moments, but there’s been plenty of ugly ones as well. And while Wilson set high expectations for himself, calling himself one of the better cover linebackers in the world, he hasn’t been consistent in really any aspect of the position.
However, Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly isn’t losing faith in Wilson just yet.
“The way I look at it is, Payton Wilson, he came as a guy who could run and could cover, right? Well, he struggled covering and running last year,” Kaboly said Friday on his Kaboly + Mack show. “Now I think that a little bit, not teaching, but drilling a little bit differently, maybe he’s able to get that back, his coverage abilities. And all of a sudden, you got a star linebacker at that point.”
Coming out of college, Wilson’s main attribute was his ability to defend the pass. He’s athletic for his position, but certainly needed to refine his game against the run. Unfortunately, that just hasn’t happened in Pittsburgh. Wilson made a lot of tackles last year with 126, but that stat can be a little misleading.
Payton Wilson began the season with the Steelers, hoping he could play every down like Queen. They tried that to start the year, but Wilson was just bad against the run. He wasn’t filling gaps correctly, was hesitant to read plays when coming downhill, and took some bad angles. As an NFL linebacker, you can’t be taking angles like this.
As the year wore on, players like Cole Holcomb and Malik Harrison began to earn more reps with Wilson struggling against the run. However, he wasn’t making things any better defending the pass. It was supposed to be Wilson’s strong suit, but he allowed completions on 41 of 45 passes last year for 351 yards and two scores. Quarterbacks managed a passer rating of 104.7 when throwing at Wilson.
He will have a new defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham, this year, which could help. Under Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin, it’s fair to say the Steelers were stale defensively, and they weren’t putting their players in the best positions. Maybe with Graham, Wilson is utilized more effectively. However, he does have the same position coach in Scott McCurley. So his day-to-day individual work and drills may not change much.
There is still potential to be unlocked in Payton Wilson. He has the athleticism to be as good in pass defense. With 126 tackles last year, if he can just put himself in a better position when filling gaps and taking pursuit angles, he could make some real strides against the run as well. Hopefully, Graham coming in can help get more out of Wilson in 2026.