While there are still six games left in the regular season and the playoffs to follow, plenty of fans and analysts have already started looking at this year’s crop of 2024 NFL Draft prospects as well as veterans who are upcoming free agents to potentially pursue this summer to improve their respective teams.
Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus has been pairing NFL teams with a college prospect and upcoming free agent at various points throughout the season, having picked safety as Pittsburgh’s primary need to address back in October. However, Spielberger now sees inside linebacker as a key area to address this upcoming offseason pointing to the injury of LB Cole Holcomb as well as the state of the rest of the room as a reason to add another player who can contribute in 2024.
“Cole Holcomb looked like a strong free agent signing before, unfortunately, sustaining a season-ending knee injury,” Spielberger wrote. “Pittsburgh has more questions than answers when it comes to long-term options at off-ball linebacker.”
Heading into the season, Pittsburgh appeared set at inside linebacker, with Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, and Kwon Alexander running a three-man rotation and second-year LB Mark Robinson backing them up. However, Holcomb and Alexander suffered season-ending injuries in back-to-back weeks, resulting in Roberts having to take on a full-time role. Robinson has been passed on the depth chart by LB Mykal Walker, thus not helping his chances of being a meaningful contributor in the future.
With Alexander an upcoming free agent and Roberts also getting long in the tooth, Spielberger opted to pair Pittsburgh with a more youthful option via the draft, naming N.C. State LB Payton Wilson as a guy it should target.
“Wilson has been one of the nation’s best coverage linebackers in 2023, with his 26 defensive stops in coverage ranking as the top mark at the position, his 47.2 passer rating allowed ranking 17th and his 90.1 coverage grade placing among the FBS’ best,” Spielberger wrote. “Wilson’s 4.6% missed tackle rate is one of the lowest at the position, as well, and he boasts a very strong 83.2 run-defense grade to boot.”
Wilson opted to come back to N.C. State after a strong 2022 season, and he has put together an even better 2023 campaign. The 6-4, 238-pound redshirt senior has posted 138 total tackles (69 solo), six sacks, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, six pass deflections, and three interceptions (one returned for a touchdown). He plays everywhere for the Wolfpack defense, lining up at off-ball backer, on the edge, and also detached from the box in coverage. He is an effective pass rusher when blitzing and is one of the better coverage linebackers in this class, having the athleticism and the stats to back it up. Wilson is also quite the run-and-chase defender against the run, playing with an excellent motor to hunt down ball carriers.
As for the veteran free agent Spielberger chose to pair with Pittsburgh, he opted for Browns LB Anthony Walker Jr.
“Walker has been impressive so far in 2023, considering the severity of the injury he was returning from, earning a coverage grade above 60.0 for the third straight season after what appeared to be a breakout 2021 campaign,” Spielberger wrote. “Walker would work well with Elandon Roberts, if Roberts is retained, as the roaming coverage backer and Roberts as the thumper.”
Spielberger probably didn’t realize that the injury that Walker suffered occurred against the Steelers last season, costing him the rest of the 2022 season. That alone may be enough to keep Walker from ever wanting to suit up in a Steelers uniform, but should the opportunity ever arise to add a player like Walker, he would bring a valuable skill set to Pittsburgh’s defense. Walker has represented himself well in coverage, much like Spielberger mentioned above. He also has the athleticism to work from sideline to sideline in pursuit of the ball. Still, Spielberger doesn’t account for Holcomb coming back from injury and likely starting over Walker should the veteran be signed, putting him in a rotational role like Pittsburgh had to start the season.
Pittsburgh’s likely scenario is to have Holcomb and Roberts back in 2024 and see where Alexander is in his rehab, opting to sign a player like him or another free agent later in the process on a cheap one-year deal. As for the draft, the 2024 inside linebacker class is stacked. Pittsburgh can draft one somewhere in the first few rounds to play behind Holcomb and Roberts until he is ready to get more snaps, working into that rotation to be a hopeful long-term solution at the position.
