Steelers Got Away With Robbery At The 2024 NFL Draft
It’s been almost unanimous across multiple outlets that the Steelers had a pretty good draft. Even PFF had good things to say about it, and they usually don’t show much love to the Steel City. The Steelers revamped the offensive line with picks in rounds one and two, and those might not have even been their best selection of the weekend.
With the 98th pick, which the Steelers got in return when they sent Kenny Pickett to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh landed a Linebacker from NC State, Payton Wilson. In 2023, Wilson won the Chuck Bednarik Defensive Player Of The Year Award, the Butkus Award, First Team American Honors, ACC Defensive Player Of The Year, and First Team All-ACC. He was a Finalist for the Nagurski Trophy. He had himself a year at NC State. So why was he there at 98?
Injury History?
Many teams were allegedly concerned with Wilson’s injury history, which dates back to high school. He tore his ACL in his Senior season in high school and then suffered another knee injury in his Freshman year at NC State, causing him to redshirt.
Wilson went on to get First Team All ACC in the following season. He then suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the second game of his junior year and missed the rest of the season.
That is a lot of injuries in a short time, but General Manager Omar Khan was adamant in his appearance on the Pat Mcafee Show that the Steelers doctors thought he was good to go and the Steelers wouldn’t have drafted him if they didn’t get to go ahead from the medical team. Long story short, they got the go-ahead, and now Wilson is a Steeler.
Senior Season
Wilson had himself a year in his senior season at NC State; along with all the accolades mentioned earlier, he made 138 total tackles and 69 solo tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and six sacks. Wilson had six passes defended and three interceptions, including one pick-six. He also had two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble. He was fifth in FBS in tackles and seventh in tackles for loss.
He flew under the radar tucked away at NC State but will hopefully turn into a diamond that the Steelers mined in the third round. The Steelers have been pretty shaky at inside linebackers recently, but now they will trot out guys like Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson to go with the returning Elandon Roberts and Cole Holcomb.
Steelers Got A Star?
Former superstar NFL Linebacker Luke Kuechly was asked about his comparison of himself to Wilson, and he said that he thinks Wilson has a chance to be better than him, stating that Wilson is taller and faster than he was at that point in his journey. High praise coming from a great player. If he turns out to be half of what Kuechly was, it might be considered a win in Steel City. Wilson ran a 4.43 40-yard dash at 6’4 and 230 pounds.
Scouts have raved about WIlson’s Wide Receiver-like speed. He has excellent burst and lateral agility, accompanying his long and athletic profile. He also has a good nose for interceptions and is a more than willing tackler. His older brother, Bryse Wilson, is probably familiar with Pittsburgh as a rival Milwaukee Brewer. Looks like it’s time to send him a Steelers jersey.
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