The interest in and subsequent selection of North Carolina State linebacker Payton Wilson in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft at No. 98 overall wasn’t all that much of a surprise from Pittsburgh Steelers after all of the pre-draft interest they showed in him.
What was a surprise though, at least to some, was that he fell so far down the draft board.
One man’s pain is another man’s gain, or something along those lines.
That slide from Wilson helped the Steelers land arguably one of the best linebackers in the draft class. For NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, the Steelers “got a first-round player” in the third round, and it was all due to medicals.
“He was a top-50 player for me. I believe he would’ve been a first-round pick if he was healthy,” Jeremiah said on NFL Network Friday night when asked his favorite pick of Day 2 in the NFL draft. “Ian [Rapoport] did a great job of laying out for everybody, a lack of an ACL, the other injuries he suffered. But as a football player, when you pop on the video and watch him, that’s a first-round player that the Pittsburgh Steelers just got at the bottom of the third round.”
Jeremiah had the reigning Butkus Award and Bednarik Award winner ranked at No. 41 on his top-150 player rankings entering the 2024 NFL Draft.
As he stated, on tape there are few better at the position than Wilson in the draft class. He is the total package, one who has sideline-to-sideline range, coverage skills, can blitz with the best of them and brings a high motor to the position.
The concern with Wilson had everything to do with the medicals.
During his time at North Carolina State, Wilson had two major knee injuries and a significant shoulder injury, and as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Friday, Wilson does not have an ACL in one of his knees. Due to the medicals, Rapoport reported that 22 teams believe Wilson is a one-contract player.
The Steelers didn’t seem all that concerned with the medicals on Friday night though. Drafting arguably the top linebacker in the draft class, they continued to address the linebacker position after GM Omar Khan stated ahead of the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine that the Steelers needed to address the position overall, even after signing veteran Patrick Queen in free agency.
For the second straight draft, the Steelers haven’t been all that worried about medicals, instead taking the best talent available. Pittsburgh drafted tight end Darnell Washington and cornerback Cory Trice Jr. last season and have now taken chances on some medical-question guys like Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier and now Payton Wilson.
We’ll see if those chances taken on medicals pays off on the field.
