Steelers' Rookie Payton Wilson Claims He's Playing With 2 Of The League's Best By His Side At Training Camp

The Pittsburgh Steelers have struggled in recent years at middle linebacker, but the efforts there were picked up last season when they signed Elandon Roberts in free agency. Since Ryan Shazier's tragic career-ending injury at the end of 2017, Pittsburgh hadn't had any solutions at middle linebacker. The Steelers' defense struggled in the box for nearly five seasons, until they signed Roberts, as well as Cole Holcomb in 2023. Pittsburgh amazingly added to that group by signing Patrick Queen and drafting Payton Wilson this offseason, and Wilson has had a blast learning from them. 

The Black and Gold kicked off their 2024 training camp at Saint Vincent College this week, which gives the fans a great chance to look at their new rookies in town. Wilson was Pittsburgh's first defensive draft selection this year, which they ended up taking him late in the third round. Wilson entered the draft with a lower stock due to his injury history, but has all of the talent in the world that could lead him to becoming the biggest steal of the entire draft. 

Assuming Holcomb will manage his way back from his season-ending knee injury, the Steelers now will have four very solid linebackers. They've surrounded Wilson with top of the line talent and experience, and the rookie has really enjoyed soaking it all up from his teammates. 

Wilson gives his teammates, especially Queen, some very high praise for their abilities. He's also continually mentioned throughout his process since being drafted that his goal is to help the Steelers win a Super Bowl title. He has a lot of potential, and being a part of this defense, they can quickly become one of the most dominant units in the league. 

After his first four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, Queen tallied over 450 combined tackles and 37 tackles for loss. Queen also earned a Pro Bowl selection last year for the first time in his career and was named a Second Team All-Pro. Playing next to Queen for the Steelers this season, Roberts eight seasons in has now over 550 tackles (101 of them came just last season with Pittsburgh). That's the second most tackles he's had in a single season, which was just 6 tackles short of his career best which came in 2022. 

Wilson will be learning behind a great group of players, which could ultimately set him up nicely to become a dark horse for Defensive Rookie of the Year. 

Steelers' Defense Looking Solid At Training Camp In Latrobe

While they aren't fully padded up and are sticking with just helmets for the time being, the team decided to run some 11-on-11 on Friday at practice. This got the fans excited, because all of Steeler Nation wants to see how the quarterbacks will perform. Russell Wilson has been sidelined through the first two days of practice with a minor calf injury, so it's been Justin Fields getting the first-team reps. 

All eyes were on Fields on Friday, however, the Steelers' defense didn't make it easy on him. While he did make some nice throws, the defense certainly affected him and broke up a ton of passes. The defensive line seemingly did a nice job of applying pressure on Fields, and the defensive backs defended his passes well. Is this a good sign for the defense, a bad sign for Fields, or is it both?

What do you think? How will Wilson continue to learn and grow from the veterans like Queen and Roberts? Let us know in the comments below. 

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