I get all the May and June caveats. It’s just OTAs and minicamp. No one is in pads, and hope springs eternal. It’s tempting to drink the Kool-Aid this time of year, and I generally resist indulging, but I’m all in on what I’m hearing about Pittsburgh Steelers rookie linebacker Payton Wilson. The buzz on him has been impossible to resist, with players and coaches raving about what he can offer the team.
It makes sense. Wilson might be labeled as a third-round pick, but he’s an obvious first-round talent who only fell due to medical concerns. But those were long-term worries, not short-term issues, and Wilson is obviously healthy right now. He seems to be looking every bit like it.
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has already floated ways to get Wilson on the field. He’s considering him in dime packages, though that doesn’t jive with his assertion Patrick Queen will be a three-down player and presumably the lone inside linebacker in dime groupings. Wilson’s positional coach, Aaron Curry, compared his speed to Bobby Wagner, high praise and a lofty comparison. Queen praised Wilson for his FBI (football intelligence) and mature attitude.
The benefit of an unusually older Steelers’ draft class, no doubt influenced by the COVID exemptions and record-low number of underclassmen, is having a more Day One-ready group. Wilson is 24 years old with plenty of college experience and is talking just like an NFL player. He’s not reading his press clippings and getting too high on himself, instead deferring to training camp when he can hit someone and truly evaluate his game and standing.
Football isn’t football until July 30, the first day Pittsburgh will be in pads and gets to hit. Wilson is literally at the start of his NFL journey and should be treated as such. There are some concerns about his game beyond the medical. He’ll have to prove he can shed blocks in the run game and overcome his extreme lack of length. But based on my study of him coming out of NC State and all we’ve heard about Wilson through the last six weeks of OTAs and minicamp, the NFL might regret letting Payton Wilson fall into the Steelers’ lap.
