When the Pittsburgh Steelers signed ILB Cole Holcomb to a three-year deal ahead of the 2023 season, the thought was that they were getting their starting linebacker for the foreseeable future. However, a severe knee injury halfway through the 2023 campaign cost Holcomb the rest of the season and all of the 2024 season, landing him on the Physically Unable To Perform List as he continued to rehab.
Knowing that Holcomb was likely to miss all of last season, Pittsburgh went to work to replace his presence on the depth chart. They signed LB Patrick Queen to a lucrative contract in free agency. They drafted Payton Wilson in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft to go along with Elandon Roberts, Mark Robinson, and Tyler Matakevich. Holcomb and the Steelers also agreed to a re-worked contract this offseason, taking a notable pay cut to stay on the roster and seemingly compete for a roster spot.
However, the reports are that Holcomb is fully healthy heading into the 2025 season, giving Pittsburgh a “playing with house money” scenario when it comes to their former starting linebacker. The team did its due diligence by adding quality talent and depth to take Holcomb’s spot after he got injured. He currently isn’t expected to start as Queen and Wilson are projected to hold down those spots, with Pittsburgh also signing ILB Malik Harrison this offseason to fill Roberts’ role on the roster.
Seeing as Pittsburgh has three linebackers in place at the top of the depth chart, anything that Holcomb can bring to the table in 2025 would be gravy as a rotational player or even as a spot starter like Roberts was last season, as Wilson worked his way more into the lineup. Before his injury in 2023, Holcomb was a productive player that Pittsburgh relied upon as their three-down linebacker, racking up 54 total tackles (31 solo), four tackles for loss, two pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery in eight games.
Cole Holcomb showed strong play in pursuit of the football as a run defender, showcasing his speed and ability to diagnose opposing offenses from the box. He also provided decent play in coverage as well, surrendering a 68.4% completion rate for 144 yards and zero touchdowns according to Pro Football Reference. He brought a physical tone to the linebacker room that Pittsburgh had been missing, as evidenced by his highlight hit against the Las Vegas Raiders when he separated WR Davante Adams from the ball.
Is Cole Holcomb a better overall player than Queen or an emerging Wilson coming into Year 2? Probably not. However, it’s hard to make an argument that he’s not one of Pittsburgh’s top four inside linebackers on the roster when healthy, and is probably a better situational player than Harrison when it comes to play speed and skill set in coverage.
Thus, Pittsburgh is finding itself in an advantageous position when it comes to depth at inside linebacker, a luxury that they haven’t had in years. Sure, they were supposed to have good depth in 2023, but they saw the likes of Holcomb and Kwon Alexander go down with season-ending injuries while Roberts gutted it out himself through the season, battling ailments. The Steelers don’t want to be in that situation again, thus holding onto Holcomb for the 2025 season to see if he can still play makes a ton of sense, even if others may consider him a roster squeeze.
Training camp and the preseason will go a long way to see if Cole Holcomb has lost a step or is a bit rusty after being off the field for nearly a year and a half. Should he look fast and physical in training camp practices and show that he can still play like his old self in preseason action, he should have a strong case for the 53-man roster. If he doesn’t, then you can look to keep one of Robinson or Carson Bruener over him for special teams purposes. Regardless, Pittsburgh may have a starting-caliber linebacker in Holcomb as more of a reserve this offseason, giving them a low-risk, moderate-reward scenario if he truly is healthy and ready to go.
