There are always polarizing players in the NFL draft. The reasons can be numerous: off-field behaviors, lack of production, or medical issues. For NC State LB Payton Wilson, his medical issues drove him down the board. Daniel Jeremiah talked about him as a first-round talent if his medicals were clean. Instead, he fell to the Steelers in the third round.
Brian Baldinger does not care about the medicals. He did a short film breakdown on Wilson on X/Twitter Saturday afternoon, and he gushed about the linebacker.
“He’s the best linebacker in this draft,” Baldinger said. “Now, you can argue that the medicals knocked him down a little. But you watch him and how active he is… The guy fills up the stat page in every game he plays.”
Baldinger isn’t kidding about Wilson showing up on the stat sheet. In 2023 alone, Wilson had 139 total tackles, 17.5 tackles for a loss, six sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, six passes knocked down, three interceptions, and one interception returned for a touchdown. He won the Dick Butkus Award in 2023 as the best college linebacker. He was also an All-American, named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and named First-Team All-ACC.
Unfortunately for Wilson, he has a lengthy injury history. He tore an ACL in his senior year of high school, suffered a knee injury that ended his true freshman season, and then a shoulder injury ended his junior season prematurely. That led to reports that more than half the teams in the league don’t see Wilson getting a second pro contract.
However, you wouldn’t know that by seeing the stat sheet. As Baldinger noted, Wilson was as prolific a linebacker as there was in 2023. On top of that, Wilson was also completely healthy in 2022. In fact, over the last two college seasons, Wilson has had 30 tackles for a loss, 10.5 sacks, four interceptions, and nine passes knocked down.
Now, just because a linebacker is credited with a lot of tackles doesn’t mean much by itself. If he’s getting dragged for yards after contact, that isn’t great. Wilson isn’t that type of linebacker, though.
“When he tackles you, you don’t go anywhere,” Baldinger said. “The play ends… The smack is on. It’s one big smackdown with Payton Wilson. I just love watching him play.”
Jonathan Heitritter scouted Payton Wilson for Steelers Depot, and he is concerned about the medicals in regards to the long-term career of Wilson. However, the tape shows a linebacker who can affect a game repeatedly.
There’s a lot to like about Payton Wilson’s game and what he brings to a defense. The guy has excellent size, athleticism, and instinctiveness, and those qualities pop off the screen when you watch him operate as a run defender, pass rusher, and pass-coverage defender. The big cloud hanging over Wilson and his prospects of getting drafted early is his medical, which has numerous red flags on it dating back to high school. Multiple knee and shoulder surgeries aren’t what you want to see in a prospect who plays a physical position like inside linebacker, putting into question how durable Wilson will be when he gets to the league.
The durability is 100 percent a real concern. However, Wilson was completely healthy in 2023 and was the best linebacker in the country. He is the right size for an off-ball linebacker at 6-4 and 233 pounds. He uses it in conjunction with his speed (4.43 40-yard dash) to deliver big hits consistently. Whether or not he goes on to have an extended career remains to be seen. But for now, Wilson has the ability to be a disruptive force in the middle of the Steelers’ defense.
