To start this season, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense has been bad. There’s no sugarcoating it. They got beaten up by the New York Jets in Week 1, and more recently, they weren’t good enough against the Seattle Seahawks. One of their biggest issues is stopping the run. They struggle with physicality, getting pushed around by other teams. Their inside linebacker duo of Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson has been part of the problem. Ben Roethlisberger thinks that Cole Holcomb should be given more chances.
“I think [Queen] played better than he did Week 1,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his Footbahlin’ podcast. “He’s great going lateral, the stretch stuff, because he’ll find a hole and he’ll fly through when he makes a play. The downhill stuff is where we really need the inside linebacker to step up. Our inside linebacker game needs to get better…
“Cole Holcomb is the best inside backer we have right now. Filling the hole, stopping the run. Payton [Wilson] is a good player. But Payton’s too light. He’s all over the place. He’s got 10 tackles, but he can’t take guys on in the hole. Holcomb, he’s downhill, hitting it. I like what he’s doing.”
Roethlisberger isn’t wrong to criticize Queen and Wilson. They’ve both struggled mightily, especially in the run game. Part of that is because both are more athletic, rangy linebackers. They’re both better in coverage, and neither is a downhill thumper.
Elandon Roberts held that role for the Steelers for the last few years, but the team let him leave in free agency this offseason. Roethlisberger believes Holcomb could be the answer to the team’s woes at inside linebacker, but it might be a little early to give him that title.
The Steelers originally signed Holcomb in 2023, and he got off to a hot start with them. Unfortunately, he suffered a major injury during the middle of that season, which also resulted in him missing the entire 2024 season. For a while, it was unclear if Holcomb would return to football and, if he did, how well he could still play.
His story is an inspiring one. Despite that adversity, Holcomb battled back to play for the Steelers this year. However, he still hasn’t seen much time on the field. In Week 1, he only played on special teams, getting eight snaps there.
Then, in Week 2, he only played 13 snaps, recording two tackles. That doesn’t feel like a large enough sample size to say he’s the Steelers’ best inside linebacker. Holcomb is just getting his feet wet in the NFL again. He likely wouldn’t have played on defense in Week 2, but the Steelers were dealing with some injuries to Queen and Wilson that forced him to step up.
Could Holcomb play more? Certainly, but don’t expect him to automatically fix the Steelers’ run game issues. While Roethlisberger is high on him, he’s probably jumping the gun. Queen and Wilson need to play better, especially against the run, but there’s no reason to give up on them yet. They both still bring a lot to the defense.
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