With Miles Killebrew out for the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury against the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, it appears the Pittsburgh Steelers have settled on a new special teams captain.
Oct 12, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson (41) reacts as he takes the field against the Cleveland Browns at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Linebacker Payton Wilson joined the rest of Pittsburgh’s captains, being Cameron Heyward, Aaron Rodgers and T.J. Watt, out at midfield for the coin toss ahead of the team’s Week 8 game against the Green Bay Packers.
Wilson did not officially serve as the special teams captain in Week 7 vs. the Cincinnati Bengals, but he’s set to do so moving forward of the rest of the year.
As it turns out, Killebrew endorsed Wilson for the captain role in his absence.
It’s quite an honor to receive that title as a second-year player, and Wilson has a perfect blueprint on how to succeed in his new leadership position after watching how Killebrew has operated during their time together.
“Really honored about that,” Wilson said. “Thanks to Coach Tomlin. Thanks to Miles for recommending me. He’s a great leader. He’s been a great role model. Hopefully I can fill his role.”
Wilson went on to reveal how he plans on assuming his newfound responsibilities as a captain.
“I would just say being a leader out there on special teams,” Wilson said. “Miles the voice of everything on teams. Miles broke the huddle down, ran our meetings. Sometimes, certain things like our Saturday punt meeting and things like that. Just taking stuff over and being a voice in the room when we’re struggling a little bit or something doesn’t go our way.”
Dec 1, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson (41) picks up the fumble en route to scoring a defensive touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images / Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Outside of his enhanced role on special teams, Wilson is also a stalwart on the Steelers’ defense at inside linebacker next to Patrick Queen.
Wilson has made four starts and played 69 percent of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps this season, per Pro Football Reference, which is up from 45 percent during his rookie year in 2024.
The 25-year-old hasn’t taken on a bigger workload on special teams from a snaps perspective so far this season, as he’s been on the field for 66 percent of the available reps after matching that mark last year.
Wilson has earned playing time across just about every Steelers special teams unit in 2025, but he’s primarily contributed as part of the field goal/extra-point block (33 snaps) and the kick return contingent (32 snaps).
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