The Pittsburgh Steelers used their first defensive selection of the 2024 NFL Draft on NC State linebacker Payton Wilson, a player they hope can be part of their system for years to come. But according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, most teams aren’t as optimistic about his long-term prospects. Despite being one of the most talented off-ball linebackers in a relatively weak class, Wilson fell to one of the final third-round picks due to concerns over his medical situation, primarily a bad shoulder and knees.
“He has a multitude of injuries,” Rapoport said during the NFL Network draft broadcast. “First, there was a left shoulder injury that was operated on. It was not a great operation. That’s certainly a lingering issue. But that’s actually not the worst of it. He has torn his ACL twice. And my understanding, after talking to several sources, is one of his knees does not have an ACL.”
Rapoport said Payton Wilson has “secondary stabilizers” in his knee but that teams were concerned. In fact, as Rapoport went on to note after Pittsburgh made Wilson the pick, more than two-thirds of the league believe Wilson’s injury situation is so bad that he won’t sign a second contract after his four-year rookie deal expires.
“There are 22 teams who share medical reports. My understanding is all 22 teams view him as a one-contract player,” Rapoport said.
It’s not clear if the Steelers are among those 22 teams that share medical information with the rest of the group. According to the scouting report from our Jonathan Heitritter, here’s a basic timeline of Wilson’s injury history.
– Tore ACL senior year of high school
– Suffered knee injury as true freshman at NC State, missed rest of season
– Had surgery on both shoulders in spring of 2021
– Season-ending shoulder surgery two games into 2021 season
Despite the injury history, Wilson has been healthy enough to be on the field for the last two years. And he was one of college football’s most productive inside linebackers, recording 30 tackles for a loss, 11.5 sacks, and four interceptions over that span.
At the NFL Scouting Combine, Wilson said teams didn’t express much concern over his medicals and he didn’t spend as much time going through testing as he anticipated.
“It actually hasn’t been as much as I thought it would be,” Payton Wilson told our Ross McCorkle. “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.”
But when it came time for the draft, it’s clear teams were concerned. Several inside linebackers went ahead of Wilson on Day 2 from players considered in his same tier like Texas A&M’s Edgerrin Cooper and Michigan’s’ Junior Colson while others weren’t expected to be drafted ahead of him like Missouri’s Ty’Ron Hopper.
But the Steelers are confident. Or at least confident enough. And as fans would know, a point Rapoport mentioned, WR Hines Ward and EDGE Greg Lloyd played their careers without ACLs and/or having dealt with serious knee injuries, though Lloyd’s career in Pittsburgh eventually ended due to knee problems.
Rapoport summed up Wilson’s outlook.
“The knee is somewhat stable…they believe he’s a one-contract player, but no one knows,” he said. “They’re betting on the upside.”
Based on Rapoport’s wording “they believe he’s a one-contract player,” it would seem the Steelers are one of those 22 teams. If so, it’s a gamble for a third-round pick. But Pittsburgh has been willing to overlook medical concerns under GM Omar Khan. In 2023, the Steelers stopped TE Darnell Washington’s fall after teams were worried about his skinnier legs and knee troubles. They also took CB Cory Trice Jr. in the seventh round, and he has a history of knee and ankle injuries, furthered by the ACL tear he suffered during the team’s first padded practice.
And in 2024, they selected Washington OT Troy Fautanu, who reportedly has his own long-term knee worries, and drafted West Virginia C Zach Frazier, who is coming off a broken leg. They’ll hope Payton Wilson can buck the doctor’s belief and play for years.
