It was a hyped-up matchup for the first day in pads. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson and running back Kenneth Gainwell certainly delivered on the hype Wednesday at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe.
Circled as the matchup to watch by head coach Mike Tomlin, particularly in coverage as Gainwell is a good receiving back and Wilson believes he’s the best coverage linebacker in football, the two butted heads and challenged each other all day long on Wednesday.
After practice, Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews caught up with the second-year linebacker. Wilson had nothing but praise for Gainwell and believes that the two will push each other and make one another great.
“Yeah, I mean, KG’s [Kenneth Gainwell], excuse my language, is a hell of a competitor,” Wilson said of Gainwell, according to video via Steelers.com. “Backs on backers, we go at it. If we’re running routes, we go at it. KG said to me, we’re gonna work every single day, and eventually we’ll become world champions.
“Just the respect I have for KG, the way that he gets back up and the way that he works every single rep is…we’re gonna make each other really good.”
After a solid career in Philadelphia, where he played a key part in the Eagles’ winning the Super Bowl last season, Gainwell moved to the other side of the Commonwealth to play in the Black and Gold. Though he’s a smaller running back, he’s a dynamic receiving weapon, one that the Steelers under Arthur Smith are very clearly tapping into early in training camp.
Coming into Wednesday’s practice, Gainwell had more touches as a receiver than he did as a running back, according to Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora.
With Wilson, while he will be an every-down linebacker next to Patrick Queen, his coverage abilities are his strong suit. He’s already talked about them during training camp, believing he’s the best in the world at it, and the numbers as a rookie largely back it up.
But now, entering Year 2, teams know what Wilson can and can’t do in coverage, and players know how to attack him better. He will have to take his game to another level in coverage, which is saying something, considering how good he was last season.
Going up against a guy like Gainwell daily will only make him better, though. This will, in turn, help Gainwell improve, too. That’s a win-win for the Steelers.
