The hype surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers’ third-round pick of North Carolina State linebacker Payton Wilson at No. 98 overall continues to build.
Considered one of the “freakiest” and best linebackers in the 2024 NFL Draft class, Wilson only fell to the third round due to medical concerns. But on the field, on tape, he had the look of a first-round player.
Nobody knows that better than North Carolina State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.
Gibson, who coached Wilson for the last four seasons, appeared on the 93.7 The Fan Morning Show with co-hosts Adam Crowley and Dorin Dickerson and spoke highly of his former linebacker.
In fact, Gibson even drew some comparisons between Wilson and a future Hall of Fame linebacker.
“Luke Kuechly comes to mind. Obviously athletic long, understands the schemes. And that’s the thing too, that the normal fan doesn’t recognize or see, but sitting in a meeting room with him for five years in coaching him, he’s a guy,” Gibson said of Wilson, according to audio via 93.7 The Fan. “He understands schemes and what people are trying to do and how they’re trying to attack him.
“So he is so, so smart, and he will study as much film as anybody in that building and know exactly how he is gonna get attacked and understand how to fix all those things and just anticipating plays and all that.”
Wilson certainly has the athleticism and overall speed to play the position as a true three-down linebacker. At the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, Wilson clocked a 4.43 40-yard dash, a 6.85 three-cone, a 9’11” broad jump and did all that at 6037, 233 pounds.
That drew a 9.88 Relative Athletic Score.
The injury history is the negative with him though. Two major knee injuries, a significant shoulder injury, multiple surgeries, and he’s only 24 years old. Melanie Friedlander tried to alleviate some of those concerns in her Entrance Physical article on Wilson for Steelers Depot.
The fact that Wilson fell to late in the third round appears to be quite the heist for the Steelers.
He projects as that true unicorn at the position, a three-down linebacker who can play the run, blitz, and cover.
For Gibson, who has coached a number of years at the collegiate level and has had a hand in the development of quite a few NFL linebackers, including Kyzir White, David Long Jr., Nick Kwiatkoski and Tony Fields, not to mention some high-end players at other positions like former NFL defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones, Wilson is as good as any of them — maybe even better — from Gibson’s vantage point.
“I don’t know exactly what the roster looks like in Pittsburgh right now, but you know, this dude is — again, I’ve been doing this 30 years — he is as good as any player I’ve ever coached,” Gibson said of Wilson. “I’ve had NFL linebackers and I’ve had first-round DBs that I’ve coached. And this guy, football instinct wise, the way he plays the game, practices the game, he’s as good, if not the best, I’ve ever had.”
Well then! That’ll certainly get the juices flowing.
Gibson is a well-regarded defensive coach in college football. He knows what he’s doing and has a long history of developing players.
So when he speaks that highly of a guy like Wilson, you listen.
It’s not just coach-speak, either.
Coming out of the draft, Wilson was called the best pick of the draft overall by names like Daniel Jeremiah, Brian Baldinger and even Bruce Feldman, who believed Wilson was a top-20 talent in the class overall.
By all accounts, the Steelers got an absolute steal at a position of need. Hopefully he can stay healthy and deliver on the hype around him.
