Steelers A to Z: How much will Cole Holcomb be able to contribute after serious knee injury?

Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2024 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 14 and July 25. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

ILB COLE HOLCOMB

Experience/age: 6^th season, turns 28 later this month

Contract status: $7.64 million cap hit in 2024, signed through 2025

The past: Despite his status as a mere fifth-round pick in 2019, Holcomb immediately became a starter for the then-Washington Redskins. He would remain so over all four seasons with the organization, joining a short list in the answer to the trivia question, “Name all whom started games under all three of the Washington NFL franchise’s names.” Holcomb also was the starter at left inside linebacker for the Football Team in 2020 and 2021, as well as for the Commanders in 2022. But it was during that final season for Washington in which Holcomb was limited to seven games. He had season-ending foot surgery in December 2022.

But that didn’t scare the Steelers away from signing him to a three-year, $18 million contract the ensuing March. And while Holcomb missed team drills during organized team activities and training camp, he was ready for the opening of training camp in Unity. He began the regular season as a starter who rarely left the field, playing more than 80% of the snaps over the first half of the season while accumulating 54 tackles (31 solo, four for loss), two QB hits, two passes defended, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Holcomb had every bit the look of a man who was — at last — solving the Steelers’ desperate search for a reliable inside linebacker who could play in every situation. He teamed with Elandon Roberts and Kwon Alexander to form a formidable (if unspectacular) ILB trio… until November. That’s when Holcomb suffered a serious injury to his left knee during a win against the Tennessee Titans. He was out for the season.

Damn, #Steelers LB Cole Holcomb is being carted off the field. pic.twitter.com/xTjTShTkHG

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 3, 2023

2024 outlook: Holcomb was omnipresent all throughout organized team activities and mandatory minicamp this spring. But he was not a full participant, sitting out team drills. Holcomb, coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan have all said the right things about Holcomb’s prognosis and have put an outwardly optimistic face on the prospects he will play in 2024 and even that he could be ready for the start of training camp.

Still, all indications are it is unlikely Holcomb will pull a redux of 2023 and make his on-field team-drills debut at Saint Vincent. The Steelers even seemed to prepare for that eventuality by making the most expensive external free-agent signing in franchise history at inside linebacker (Patrick Queen) as well as drafting an inside linebacker (Payton Wilson) with a Day 2 pick. With Roberts also back, the Steelers probably don’t need Holcomb. But with Roberts now 30 years old and Wilson carrying his own lengthy injury history – to say nothing of the recent past of Steelers inside linebackers and their propensity for injury – it sure would be comforting to the Steelers if Holcomb was healthy and contributing as part of the position group.

That won’t be known until the Steelers start practicing in Unity Township.