The Pittsburgh Steelers made their biggest splash of free agency with the signing of ILB Patrick Queen to shore up an inside linebacker group that saw multiple key injuries last season. Even still, they have been showing interest in the ILB class, and seem likely to address the position at some point in the draft. Cole Holcomb’s status is still up in the air with no real update on him from the pre-draft press conference on Monday. The Steelers brought in NC State’s Payton Wilson and Michigan’s Junior Colson for pre-draft visits and sent ILB coach Aaron Curry to a few pro days.
Wilson is one of the more intriguing prospects in this draft class, but his placement on draft boards will be mostly based on what teams think of his medicals. With multiple knee surgeries and multiple shoulder surgeries prior to entering the NFL, some teams could take him off their board altogether.
“Wilson’s a double green dot,” said one anonymous scout via Bob McGinn’s ILB post on Go Long. “He’s Luke Kuechly’ish. He’s a heck of a player, but is he going to be able to stay healthy?”
Unfortunately, that injury caveat is attached to most of the nice things that the scouts have to say about him. At the NFL Scouting Combine, for what it’s worth, he told me that teams were comfortable with his medicals in the evaluation process. He stayed mostly healthy his final two years in college and credited a nutrition program he is on, playing at a higher weight, and constantly working to rehab and maintain himself year round.
“He’ll be a green dot guy,” said another scout on his abilities to be the quarterback and central communicator of the defense. “He’s brilliant. He literally has everything. Jack Campbell is a good player, but this guy is much more gifted. If this was 1998, he’d be a top-10 pick. He makes plays in the run game, he makes plays in the box, makes plays in space.”
On top of winning the Butkus and Bednarik awards in 2023, given to the defensive player of the year and best linebacker of the year in college football, respectively, he tested extremely well at the Combine. He measured in at 6037, 233 pounds, and ran a 4.43-second 40-yard dash and jumped a solid 34.5 inches in the vertical.
He finished his time in college with 402 total tackles, 202 solo tackles, 48 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, seven interceptions, one forced fumble, 13 passes defensed, and one defensive touchdown. He has the tape, the production, the smarts, and it sounds like he interviewed well around the league.
“Plays his absolute tail off,” one scout said. “He’s got range and speed, he can cover and he’s a leader. It’s tough to find guys that have all of that. Now it’s just how often will he be on the field.”
The inside linebacker position has been devalued over the years. Along with running back, the ILB position has seen its value decline as the league becomes more and more about passing the football and spreading out the defense. Every-down linebackers need to be able to cover and have sideline-to-sideline speed to stay on the field. Wilson is one of the few in this ILB class who can do that.
Given the value of the ILB position and his injury history, if he slides down the draft board in any meaningful way, the Steelers could take the risk on a player of his caliber even if it isn’t their largest pressing need at the moment. A pairing of Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson would be one of the most athletic and formidable tandems in the NFL.
