NFL Draft Profile - NC State's LB Payton Wilson

We start our look at the top linebackers with a very intriguing player who does it all.

Let’s look at a bunch of the best off-ball linebackers in this year’s draft and I wanted to start with a guy who dominated at both the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine that I confess I probably did not see play in college much at all before this study, Payton Wilson.

No. 11 - Payton Wilson - Age 23.8 - 6’4 - 233 - 4.43 - NC State

He is the younger brother of Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Bryse Wilson which always impresses me that families can produce multiple professional athletes in different sports - Not my family’s problem at all.

Anyway, he took many awards this year including the Butkus Award and the Bednarik Award in 2023, so that speaks volumes for someone who wins the best linebacker in America and the best defensive player in America in his final season. But, what a long road it has been as he will be 24 in a month, so we know that he spent six years at NC State, including a redshirt for a knee which was his 2nd major knee situation and missed most of his junior year for a shoulder. I say this all the time, but LB is the RB of the defense as it is collision after collision and the durability of a player is a real issue and Wilson will have to pass all medicals to be considered in the Top 50. Without knowing the state of his health, we can only assume he will be fine. And why wouldn’t we, he tested off the charts at the combine and most the time guys doing that are not going to fail physicals.

Anyway, NC State would move him around the defense, but most the time, he was an off-ball traditional LB who would be used in coverage a ton and also off the edge in spurts.