Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb’s NFL career took a drastic change when he suffered a knee injury halfway through the 2023 season. It’s been a long, painful road back to the field for him. He’s responded well with two good performances in as many weeks against the Jaguars and Buccaneers. Steelers insider Mark Kaboly thinks Holcomb has shown some serious improvement over the first two preseason games.
“Cole Holcomb was known as a three-down linebacker when he came to the Steelers, but he has morphed, at least in my eyes, into a top-level run-stopping off-ball guy,” Kaboly wrote in a column on X on Sunday morning. “The problem is that he is almost the same person that this year’s free agent Malik Harrison is in terms of play and special teams… It is not a matter now if they keep [Holcomb]. It is if they keep him and Harrison.”
Kaboly’s Takeaways: Despite success, we are still clueless about the Steelers’ OL and Kaleb Johnson
Mark Kaboly / Steelers Correspondent
For The @PatMcAfeeShow
Takeaways from a sports writer (definitely not a journalist) who left the press box early to get down to the locker… pic.twitter.com/ARPbJJnrOF
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) August 17, 2025
The Steelers obviously would have liked Holcomb to get off to a good start in 2025, but with how much time he missed it wouldn’t have been a huge deal if he had some struggles. It seems like he’s managed to avoid most issues completely, though. He had a solid debut against Jacksonville, one where he was still getting used to being on an NFL field again.
It’s still the preseason, so some aspects of these games should be taken with a grain of salt. But Holcomb definitely impressed on Saturday. Pro Football Focus gave him the third-highest grade on the entire team at an 89.1 overall grade. He finished behind only Nick Herbig (90.0) and Keeanu Benton (89.6). Herbig also only saw a handful of plays before leaving with a hamstring injury. If he played more, Holcomb may have been able to creep above him, too.
It’s good that Holcomb is impressing against the run, area where the Steelers’ defense struggled with last season. The also lost a terrific run-stopper in Elandon Roberts in free agency. Holcomb’s behind Payton Wilson and Patrick Queen on the depth chart, but if he keeps playing the run as well as he has, he’s may start forcing himself into more snaps.
Kaboly’s take on Malik Harrison is interesting. Harrison is currently alongside Holcomb on the depth chart as the other second string linebacker. He hasn’t played poorly, either, and had a few nice plays himself against the run on Saturday. Harrison is certainly better defending the run than the pass, as Kaboly suggests. However, he’s not exactly playing his way off the roster. Holcomb also hasn’t played in a regular season game since November of 2023. Harrison may stick around as extra depth if Holcomb struggles to begin the regular season.
Cole Holcomb was playing some good football before his devastating injury. Back on the field, he seems to have picked up where he left off. And that could push someone else off the roster.
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