Payton Wilson is the biggest swing the Pittsburgh Steelers have taken in seeking to replace Ryan Shazier in the draft since Devin Bush. Bush was a massive swing and a miss as a top-10 pick, but Wilson, a third-round pick, can help clean up that mistake.
The Steelers also drafted Shazier in the first round back in 2014. An instant starter, he took a couple of years to find his footing but soon developed into a top middle linebacker. He was on his way to an All-Pro season when he suffered a career-ending spinal injury.
Since then, the inside linebacker position has been a revolving door despite their valiant efforts. They’ve made big splashes in both free agency and the draft, Bush being the notable draft selection. Wilson is the first linebacker they’ve taken other than Bush in the top 100 since Shazier’s injury. And they hope he can finally find stability in their Butkus Award-winning linebacker.
“This is a team that’s been searching for a Ryan Shazier replacement since his catastrophic, career-ending injury,” Brooke Pryor said on the Adam Gold Show last week. “I think that they see Payton Wilson as someone that could maybe fill some of those shoes.”
Those are big shoes to fill, but Payton Wilson’s tape is impressive. Wilson isn’t quite the absolute freak athletic phenom that Shazier was, but he’s not far from it. And that’s despite a major and alarming injury history—the only reason he made it anywhere near the 98th overall pick.
Still, Wilson is also just the latest attempt to find an answer. They tried free agency and trade frequently, from Jon Bostic and Mark Barron to Joe Schobert and Myles Jack. None of them lasted more than a single season before moving on. They turned over nearly the entire inside linebacker room a year ago, signing Cole Holcomb in free agency, among others. Fate had other ideas for them, however. Holcomb also suffered a major, though presumably not career-ending, injury last year for the Steelers.
“They hoped Cole Holcomb would be that guy, and Holcomb was playing really well last season until he had a season-ending injury. And that’s been a pretty significant injury,” Pryor said, calling Wilson insurance for that signing. “I think that Payton Wilson pairs really well with Patrick Queen and Elandon Roberts. To me, this is the continuation of a two-year effort to completely redo the inside linebacking group.”
Of course, there’s no guarantee that Payton Wilson will see the field on defense this year, let alone take over a long-term starting position. For all we know, Wilson’s health won’t even allow him to have a long career.
But he is arguably the most talented and certainly the most accomplished linebacker they’ve drafted since Shazier’s injury. Wilson’s red flag is in his medical file, while Devin Bush’s red flag was in his game tape. He may or may not play long, but while he plays, he should play well and certainly with conviction.
