Steelers’ inside linebacker unit holding steady according to PFF

As the 2025 NFL offseason progresses into the summer months, there will constantly be a barrage of lists and rankings from various outlets. While some fans will have preferred places where they look for particular rankings, others will just avoid the information altogether.

After previously reporting on the members of the Pittsburgh Steelers who landed in the top 32 players at various positions according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), now it is time to look at several position groups as a whole and where they rank across the NFL. I know there are many who like to criticize PFF rankings, with me being one of them, it doesn’t mean that their information is always incorrect. While they used rankings for some of their reasoning when looking at players within the position groups, team scores from 2024 were not their ultimate deciding factor and instead it was the opinion of the various authors depending on which position group was being covered.

Whenever I cover various things from PFF, I often give the disclaimer reminding people that their grades are merely an opinion. One thing PFF should be commended on is that they collect an immense amount of data, particularly looking at each player on every snap, in order to form their opinion. But more data doesn’t automatically deliver a correct opinion. Regardless, it is still a great point of discussion to see where the Pittsburgh Steelers rank and the various positional groups.

Next up, let’s look at PFF’s rankings of all inside linebacker groups where the Steelers hold the same spot at last year.

13. Pittsburgh Steelers

Patrick Queen struggled to a 56.8 PFF overall grade in his first season as a Steeler. He played his best football in Baltimore alongside Roquan Smith, so Pittsburgh is likely hoping 2024 third-round pick Payton Wilson can fill that role after posting a solid 74.0 PFF overall grade in his rookie campaign. Malik Harrison and Cole Holcomb are both credible run defenders with enough experience to enter the starting lineup if needed.

When it comes to the Steelers inside linebackers, there’s a bit of intrigue as to how they’re going to work things this season. For that reason, it’s not surprising the Steelers fall outside of the top 10 according to PFF. But what is interesting is how the Steelers are ranked in the exact same spot that they were going into the 2024 season. But how the Steelers got there is quite different…

Last year PFF was really big on Patrick Queen and how his scores had improved every year of his career. Still uncertain of how things would work in Pittsburgh, it was really about Queen and maybe some supplemental play from Elandon Roberts. This year, it’s not as much about Patrick Queen as it is Payton Wilson coming into year two with a quality PFF grade from last season. The fact they also bring up Malik Harrison and Cole Holcomb shows that the Steelers have what is expected to be quality depth at the position.

Looking around the rest of the AFC north, the Steelers actually come in as the second spot as they are just behind the Cleveland Browns who are in the 12th position. The AFC North is actually clustered fairly close together with the Cincinnati Bengals coming in 15th and the Baltimore Ravens coming in 16th. Only the Chicago Bears in the 14th spot keep the AFC North from all appearing in a row.

I also find it interesting when looking at how these rankings compare to a year ago. The Baltimore Ravens went from first to worst in the AFC North as they were ranked 6th last year but have fallen because of continued question marks next to Roquan Smith. The Cleveland Browns fell from 8th to 12th in a year’s time while the Cincinnati Bengals slipped only from 14th to 16th.

Other position groups covered:

Receivers
Defensive Line
Running Backs