INDIANAPOLIS — For NC State LB Payton Wilson, there has been a lot of anticipation leading up to the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. He has had two major knee injuries throughout high school and college and a shoulder injury, leading to questions about his durability at the NFL level.
Just a month ago at the Senior Bowl, he told me how much he was looking forward to the combine to prove his medical issues are healed and put those concerns behind him. By the sounds of it, he achieved that goal with a solid showing in the medical evaluation in Indianapolis.
“It actually hasn’t been as much as I thought it would be,” Wilson said. “When I went to the hospital yesterday, it actually wasn’t a lot on me. So I think the teams are pretty confident in what I’ve done these last two years, and I think they believe my injuries are in the past.”
Wilson credits a change in his nutrition and adding weight to his frame to his reduction in injuries. To his point, he had two highly productive and healthy years in 2022 and 2023.
If what he is saying holds up, that is a huge boost to his draft stock. The 2023 Chuck Bednarik and Butkus Award-winning linebacker offers a lot as a prospect. He was a team captain, he was highly productive in college, and he has professional sport bloodlines with his brother a Major League Baseball player.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have had inside linebacker issues for years now, so it would make sense for the team to show some interest in a prospect such as himself. He said he hasn’t met with the Steelers at the combine while saying he has had many formal and informal visits with other teams.
He does have some interesting ties to Pittsburgh as Hall of Fame coach Bill Cowher was a linebacker and captain at NC State in the 1970s. This past season, Cowher was inducted into the school’s Ring of Honor.
“One of the best people I’ve ever met in my life,” Wilson said of Cowher. “He came to a few of our games, gave the team some speeches…from what he went through to how he became who he became, was a true inspiration.”
Like the running back position on offense, inside linebacker has taken a hit to its market value in recent years. Wilson gave his thoughts as to why he feels that is missing the mark.
“I think linebacker is the quarterback of the defense. We have to know what’s going on. We have to be in the pass game. We have to be in the run game,” Wilson said. “I think it’s literally one of the most important positions on the field.”
He proved that he could do it all in 2023 with an impressive stat line showing off his prowess in all phases of the game. He had 138 total tackles (69 solo), 17.5 TFLs, six sacks, three interceptions, six passes defensed, one forced fumble, and an interception returned for a touchdown. Those would be solid numbers in a 17-game season in the NFL, let alone just 12 games in college.
He figures to test really well at the combine workouts, stating a goal of a sub-4.45 time in the 40-yard dash. If his testing lives up to expectations and his medicals are less of a concern than initially thought, then he could see his draft stock move up into first-round territory. The Steelers have more pressing needs than ILB in the first round, but if he slides into the second, he could be a prospect worth heavy consideration.
