PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers improved their inside linebacker corps this offseason by signing Patrick Queen to a lucrative free agent deal and drafting promising rookie Payton Wilson in the third round. They also still have veteran Elandon Roberts and Cole Holcomb on the roster. Holcomb is coming off a devastating season-knee injury and his return date is uncertain as of now, however.
Nevertheless, this is a deep linebacker room. And I didn’t even mentioned Mark Robinson. He’s another player to keep an eye on. Robinson didn’t take advantage of the slew of injuries at the linebacker position last season, as the Steelers had to lure Myles Jack out of retirement. Although, Robinson had a standout performance in Week 18 against the Baltimore Ravens, recording five tackles, one for a loss, a sack, a quarterback hit, and forced a fumble in only 13 snaps.
Robinson has potential, he’s always displayed traits of a starting inside linebacker, it’s just about putting it all together. Heading into Year 3, this could be the season where he hits his stride.
“Just experience,” Robinson said when asked about what he learned from the 2023 season. “Experience is the best solution. Everything is easy until experience happens.”
Robinson has been around a bunch of veteran linebackers since being drafted by the Steelers in the seventh round in 2022. Guys like Kwon Alexander, Jack, Roberts, Holcomb and now Queen have all been beneficial to him. He likes to take a little bit of wisdom from each linebacker.
“I mean, it’s always fun to be around guys good guys who are actually good at what they do, man,” Robinson said. “So any time you get somebody like like that it’s easy to learn from. It’s easy to learn, easy to be better.”
Robinson said he feels a lot more comfortable heading into his third season. Queen and Roberts are projected to be the starters. Wilson could see playing time as well along with Holcomb whenever he’s cleared.
Robinson will be a special teams ace, but if his number is called, he should be able to step right in and fulfill the standard that Mike Tomlin expects.
Nick Farabaugh contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.