For the second year in a row, the Pittsburgh Steelers put resources into the inside linebacker position. Ahead of the 2023 season, the Steelers signed Elandon Roberts, Cole Holecomb, and Kwon Alexander. Unfortunately, both Holcomb and Alexander suffered season-ending injuries during the season. Alexander is gone and Holcomb is starting the 2024 season on the physically unable-to-perform list.
Enter Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson. Queen signed with the Steelers as a free agent after spending the first four seasons of his career with divisional rivals the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers then selected Wilson in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. There are plenty of expectations about Queen’s performance in 2024.
“He’s gonna change this defense,” former Steelers DL Chris Hoke said on Thursday’s episode of the Joe Starkey Show on 93.7 The Fan. “I know people are saying we’re not looking for him to make big plays. He’s gonna make big plays because that’s what he does, right? He’s athletic, he’s in the right spot, he has a great feel for the game, high football IQ. So to me, that’s a huge addition to this defense this year. I’m hoping he can stay healthy because he’s the guy that’s gonna be a difference maker.”
Hoke certainly isn’t wrong about Queen being able to make plays. He’s had at least nine tackles for a loss in every season he’s been in the league. He had three interceptions over the last two years while also tallying six passes defended in each of those seasons. He even has 13.5 sacks in 67 career games as an inside linebacker.
Roberts acquitted himself well in 2023 as a starting linebacker for the Steelers. But the team had so many injury issues that it was signing free agents and even players who had previously late in the season. So Queen made a ton of sense to sign at the start of free agency.
It also made a lot of sense for the Steelers to invest a third-round pick in Wilson. He won the Dick Butkus Award in 2023 as the best linebacker in the nation. Unfortunately, his injury history led to him dropping precipitously in the draft. The Steelers were more than happy to bring him in with one of their two third-round picks.
Wilson had 138 total tackles in 2023, 17.5 tackles for a loss, six sacks, three interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), six passes defended, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. Wilson was a force of sheer destruction for the NC State Wolfpack.
And that is why Hoke thinks Wilson will be playing early in 2024 and even more as the season rolls on.
“I think you’re gonna see a heavy dose of Payton Wilson early on,” Hoke said. “He’s a guy they really like. Again, big and physical. He’s athletic, he can move. So I think he’s a guy that you’re gonna see really rise up and take a lot of snaps. I think you’re gonna see Payton Wilson really come on this year as you get into the middle of the season and down the stretch.”
Rookies will always take their lumps early in the season, and Hoke said as much. But he believes that as Wilson continues to learn how to play in the NFL, he’ll become more and more of an impact player.
And if both Queen and Wilson are making plays for the Steelers throughout the 2024 season, that’s a good thing for both now and the future.
