Pittsburgh Steelers rookie ILB Payton Wilson logged 44 snaps in his preseason debut on Friday. He acquitted himself well on the whole, registering a game-high six tackles, including one for loss. By and large, he seemed to play freely, though not necessarily always comfortably. And he did leave some plays on the field—the plays that will occupy his attention this week.
As we highlighted yesterday, Wilson did miss two tackles to go along with the six that he made. That does not include plays on which he failed to position himself to make a tackle attempt, as well. He certainly left meat on the bone in terms of potential for future improvement, and he knows that.
“I missed some plays”, Wilson told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette during Friday’s game. “Those are the ones that I’ll think about more than the ones I made. But I’m super excited to go watch the film, get with everyone, and continue to get better”.
But he came out swinging, to his credit, registering a tackle for loss on his first defensive snap. It was a nice play, to be sure, though one can argue that it was also his best play. He will learn the necessary lessons from this experience, however, and work to correct them in practice.
A third-round pick out of North Carolina State, Payton Wilson presented too good of a value to pass up. A winner of the Butkus and Chuck Bednarik Awards, he plunged to the third round over teams’ concerns about his medicals. After bulking up in the trenches and taking a wide receiver, though, the Steelers took a swing on pure talent.
While not every outlet was enamored with his debut, Wilson drew positive praise from others. Former Steelers defensive lineman Chris Hoke spoke positively about him after the game, acknowledging his shortcomings. Overall, he assessed that it was a good start for the rookie, with plenty of room to grow.
Payton Wilson has all the attributes—barring health—to develop into a quality starting off-ball linebacker. That is exactly why the Steelers drafted him even after spending $41 million on Patrick Queen in free agency.
Although they have Wilson and Elandon Roberts to start, the Steelers still want to find a role for Wilson. They have kicked around the idea of him playing in the dime package since the spring, but with Queen not playing in the first preseason game, he simply started the game.
Will we look back at this years from now as the birth of a great career, or just another hopeful? We have branded Payton Wilson as the prototypical Steelers linebacker since the second Pittsburgh drafted him. He has a lot to live up to, and to his credit, he does have the talent, ability, and demeanor. But only time will tell what his career looks like. For now, we’ll just enjoy watching the journey and hope for the best—the beauty of being a fan.
