Steelers' Payton Wilson Is An Established Player But He Stayed For The Final Week Of OTA's

The Pittsburgh Steelers have gone through an exciting change in the 2025 offseason, making an unexpected overhaul of the coaching staff. Over the past few seasons, the team has been outmatched on defense, partly due to a lack of talent but primarily due to a schematic disadvantage. With Patrick Graham, a respected coordinator in the NFL, leading the defense, the unit is looking to have a bounce-back season. In 2026, the defense will not be devoid of talent; they still have some questions, but overall, it's a solid group. Graham's scheme will need to be the difference maker, especially for the inside linebackers, who struggled immensely in 2025. 

The inside linebacker room for the Steelers has been a very disappointing position group the past two seasons. In the 2024 offseason, the organization made big moves at the position, signing Patrick Queen and drafting Payton Wilson, hoping to make them a long-term duo. 

Queen has received a lot of heat from Steeler Nation since signing with the Black and Gold, but Wilson's struggles are more under the radar. Wilson has been a tough fit in the Steelers' 3-4, being more of a finesse-coverage linebacker. One team insider recently spoke about Wilson and suggested he feels Wilson needs to be more acquainted with the new scheme. 

Brian Batko of Steelers.com recently appeared on a radio show, SteelerNationRadio, where he recapped the team's Organized Team Activities (OTAs). Batko spoke about Wilson in particular, being at the final OTAs practice as an already established player in the NFL. He suggests that Wilson may feel he still has a lot to prove in the NFL after a subpar second season. 

"Maybe he feels like he needs to be 100% well-versed in this new Patrick Graham defensive scheme. Maybe he feels like he hasn't arrived yet," Batko stated. "I know that he probably wasn't as happy as he could have been with year two, especially coming into that second season with the Steelers and in the NFL." 

Wilson said during training camp last season that he believed he was one of the best coverage linebackers in the World. He recorded his first interception this season, but gave up a passer rating of 104.3. He hasn't been able to find consistency, but still displays freakish athleticism. 

"He thought he was one of the better cover linebackers in the world, as he put it," Batko mentioned. "And you know, I think you saw flashes of it. You saw the speed, you know, easily in Dublin chasing down the Vikings receiver and allowing them to keep some time on the or take some time off of the clock to thwart that Vikings comeback. But I mean, you just want to see it on a more consistent basis, combined with the ability to come up, get off blocks, make plays against the run."

Early in 2025, Wilson was benched in favor of Cole Holcomb after two awful performances to start the season. He later found himself back on the field, but he would split snaps with Malik Harrison and play mainly on passing downs. Under Graham's scheme, Wilson will need to bounce back; his size and athleticism are too good to be wasted. 

Steelers' Graham Needs To Unlock Payton Wilson

Graham's defenses in the past hasn't been statistically good, but he's never had a roster as talented as the Steelers. What Graham has been able to do for his inside linebackers has been very underrated. He's gotten solid play out of players like Robert Spillane, Devin White, who was once third in the NFL in tackles, and Jamal Adams, who made the switch to inside linebacker and had a stretch of good games. 

With Graham's scheme built around his personnel, Wilson should be in much better shape in 2026, being really able to use his size and speed. Fans will have to see how Graham deploys Wilson, but given his past, he should be able to get much more out of the former third-round pick than the previous regime did. 

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