Payton Wilson represents the apex of a recent trend in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ past two draft classes. Under general manager Omar Khan, they have proven willing to sidestep received opinion over medical concerns. They have landed at least five players of value because they were more comfortable with medicals than most teams.
You had Darnell Washington and Cory Trice Jr. last year, for example—Trice tearing his ACL as a rookie. This year, they used three of their top four picks on players who potentially had medical red flags. For Payton Wilson, the third-round inside linebacker, that flag was more like a bonfire.
Reportedly, more than two thirds of the league assessed that he had such extensive concerns with his knee that he likely would be a one-contract player. Yes, Wilson has had an injury history, but he has stayed healthy the past two years. Falling to the third round as one of the standout defenders in college football, he is ready to prove both himself and the Steelers right.
“Everyone knows I dropped in the draft due to my injuries, but I think I was one of the best people in this draft class,”, the rookie said recently, via Teresa Varley writing for the team’s website. “I always have a chip on my shoulder. I want to be the best player in the world one day. That’s my goal. That’s what I work for every single day”.
Wilson won both the Butkus Award and the Chuck Bednarik Award during the 2023 season. The former is awarded to the top linebacker in the country, the latter the top defender. He is the first Bednarik Award winner to fall out of the first round since Tyler Matakevich in 2015. The Steelers, of course, also drafted him, another inside linebacker.
But Payton Wilson is a player on a whole other level. He has all the tools that allowed Matakevich to excel at the college level, with the athletic traits that indicate he can successfully translate that to the NFL. The only questions are whether his body holds up, and for how long.
The Steelers added Patrick Queen this offseason as a prized free agent and retain Elandon Roberts from last season. They don’t need Wilson to be an immediate contributor, but he may force his way onto the field. He has suggested that he is currently working in dime defenses, for example, but we’re a long way off from the regular season or meaningful games.
As he has stated himself, Wilson is the type of player who believes he should be on the field for every snap making every play. He has that kind of belief in his abilities, perhaps furthered by his skeptics.
“I was always being looked at as the underdog and, wanting to be the best and trying to prove to people that I am the best, trying to prove to people and myself”, Wilson said.
I can confidently say that many Steelers fans can’t wait to watch him try to prove that.
