Payton Wilson explains how his injury history impacts him

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted linebacker Payton Wilson in the 2024 NFL Draft, despite some serious concerns about his health. The Steelers took Wilson with the No. 98 overall pick despite reports that he has no ACL in one of his knees. Aside from the ACL, the former NC State star also battled other various injuries throughout his collegiate career. Though the ailments took him off the field at certain points, they helped him appreciate his health and his ability that much more.

“As a person, it just helped my faith grow,” Wilson said last week. “Super religious family, Jesus Christ is everything to me. Continuing to understand that he has a plan for me no matter what it is, I’m going to be okay with it. On the field, I learned I was taking everything for granted.

“The opportunity to play football, you never know until it gets taken away from you and you watch people do what you love to do and you’re not able to. Continuing to play every single snap like it’s my last.”

Wilson’s time at the collegiate level was extended numerous times due to injury. He first suffered a torn ACL during his senior year at Orange High. Once he arrived in Raleigh, he had a second knee injury, which led to a redshirt campaign during his freshman season at NC State.

He also suffered a season-ending shoulder injury at Mississippi State, the second game of his junior year, in 2021. Despite his history of injuries, Wilson put together back-to-back healthy seasons to close out his collegiate career.

Steelers got ‘go-ahead’ from doctors on Wilson

Steelers general manager Omar Khan opened up after the draft about the injury concerns and explained why he believes it was worth it to draft the 24-year-old defender. 

“He loves football,” Khan said on the Pat McAfee Show. “We had him graded really high, and he was still sitting there with our second third-round pick. We wouldn’t have done it unless our doctors had given us the go-ahead. Our doctors, they’re second-to-none. We trust them completely. If they hadn’t cleared him, we wouldn’t have taken him.”

Wilson was excellent for the Wolfpack, tallying 402 tackles, 48 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, seven interceptions and one forced fumble in his career. His 2023 campaign was particularly stellar. This past season, Wilson exploded for 138 tackles, 17.5 TFLs, six sacks and three picks.

For his efforts, Wilson won the 2023 Chuck Bednarik Award and Butkus Award while also being named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Additionally, he was a unanimous consensus All-American, only the fourth in school history. Standing at 6-foot-4, 233 pounds, he busted out a blazing 4.43-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.