Rookie ILB Payton Wilson aims to play like anything but a rookie for Steelers

A football lifer, Payton Wilson certainly understands and appreciates the unwritten code of a rookie.

He’s spending his first season soaking up as much as he can from veteran teammates, speaking up when appropriate but respecting that he needs to make a name for himself before actively attempting to seek too much attention.

But that is about where Wilson’s rookie mindset ends. A first-year inside linebacker, Wilson refuses to use his rookie status as a crutch or in any way limit what he can accomplish this season for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I don’t want to be really looked at as a rookie (in regards to), ‘Hey, this guy is gonna make mistakes — but (at least) he’s flying around,’” Wilson said before a practice this week. “No, I want to be held to the same standard as someone who’s been here for 10 years.

“I want to know every single thing that’s going on, and I want to fly around and just be able to play as fast as I can.”

So far, so good for Wilson, a third-round pick who is quietly taking on an increasingly significant role in the defense as the season progresses. Purportedly a backup to Elandon Roberts as the inside linebacker lined up next to Patrick Queen in the middle of the Steelers defense, Wilson has earned the official start in two of the past four games and has played approximately double the number of defensive snaps as Roberts in three of the past four.

Wilson led the Steelers in tackles with nine during this past week’s victory against the New York Jets, and he is second on the team to Queen (who plays every down) with 25 tackles over the past three games.

“Payton, he’s a football junkie. It’s good to see,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “He does not act like a rookie. He does not want to be treated like a rookie. You see that from him in the way he comes into meetings, prepares. He’s early. He’s an early-in-the-building, late-out-of-the-building type of guy. He’s brought a level of maturity that allows us to not treat him like a rookie. I think that’s good because that will accelerate his growth, as well.”

The reigning winner of the Chuck Bednarik Award as college football’s defensive player of the year, Wilson has 4.43 speed in the 40-yard dash — a time that would make most wide receivers proud. (To wit, Steelers No. 1 WR George Pickens’ 40 time at his combine 2 ½ years ago was a mere 4.47).

That speed helps define Wilson’s playmaking abilities. But, as Wilson alluded to, he doesn’t want to be known merely as a linebacker who drops jaws with how fast he moves around the field. He wants to know the why of the where he’s going, and he wants to move with purpose.

“He does both — his 40 time is crazy for a linebacker, and he plays fast,” outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “The more reps he gets and the more action he gets, he’s just gonna play faster and faster because he’s gonna be able to see things faster. So I am excited to see it.”

More than 65% of Wilson’s snaps have come on opponent passing plays. According to Pro Football Focus, Wilson has been deployed as a blitzer nine times and in coverage on 125 routes. He grades out as the Steelers’ best coverage linebacker in addition to his missed-tackle percentage totaling less than half that of Queen or Roberts.

“We all know he has (a high level of) ability,” Queen said, “so just to be able to see him do that, it’s big. Just knowing that his play can get even better — that’s the scary part.”

How much better?

“A lot better,” Queen said. “A lot. He’s only a rookie. The sky is the limit for him.”