Payton Wilson is having fun in the NFL. Being a Pittsburgh Steeler. Going through practice, taking reps, learning a new playbook and the opportunity to play at football’s highest level. But he’ll have an extra wide smile when he can finally hit someone in the mouth.
Speaking to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Thursday, Wilson is already looking forward to putting the pads on in training camp.
“I love practicing. But right now, I feel like we’re just in underwear almost practicing, right?” he said via the PPG’s YouTube Channel. “I can’t wait to get to Latrobe. Those first few days we’re gonna be acclimating. But then after that, once we get those pads on, that’s really when you showcase who you are and how well you can play.”
Wilson pairs an old-school mentality with new-school athleticism. Playing every bit to his 4.43 40 time at the NFL Scouting Combine, he became one of college football’s best linebackers once healthy. Winner of the Butkus and Bednarik Awards in 2023, he fell to the third round amid concerns with his knees and shoulders. The Steelers stopped his fall and are banking on the upside he brings.
For now, Wilson can only show his speed and range. The NFL places strict contact rules on OTAs, forbidding players to wear pads or go through live tackling. Teams that don’t abide by those rules are subject to penalties, including forfeiting future draft picks.
That will carry over into the “ramp up” period of training camp, the players padless for the first four days. But the pads will come on that fifth day and Pittsburgh’s camps are regarded as the league’s most intense. The majority of teams don’t allow “live tackling,” taking players to the ground at full speed. Most instruct “thud tackling” of staying on your feet and wrapping the ball carrier up. Not Pittsburgh. They have one full-speed run session that produces violent collisions. Not to mention their Backs vs Backers one-on-one drill, running backs picking up blitzing linebackers, and their goal line drill held later in camp.
Wilson will fit right in. And as he alluded to, it’s the true measure to evaluate players. Judging performance based off how players function without pads and the core elements of the game, being physical, tackling, taking on and shedding blocks, making people miss, is an impossible and fruitless task. We don’t know how well Wilson will perform in that setting. But he’s certainly ready to meet the moment.
