LB Payton Wilson wants to run a 4.45 40-yard dash in pre-draft workouts
Former NC State linebacker Payton Wilson has spent the last week at the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., and he has stood out with the National Team.
Wilson, this year’s Bednarik and Butkus Award winner, joined the NFL Network crew at the end of Thursday’s practice to talk about his time at the prestigious all-star game.
“It’s just been awesome,” Wilson said. “Praise to my lord and savior Jesus Christ for allowing me to be here. It’s just awesome to be out here with the best in the country to be able to display my talent and showcase my talent.”
Wilson’s talent has been on display. He clocked the fastest speed of any linebacker on the first day of the Senior Bowl, according to DallasCowboys.com’s Nick Harris, who is in Mobile.
That should not be a surprise since Wilson logged a 23.7 mph sprint in pursuit of Chris Tyree against Notre Dame in Week 2. That number was eye-popping to the NFL Network crew, and they were sure to ask whether or not he thought it was real.
“I’m definitely going to think it’s real,” Wilson said with a laugh. “But if I run a 4.45, I’ll be perfectly pleased with myself. That’s my goal and I want to show everyone this speed is true. It’s not just something you see on the tape, it’s real deal speed.”
The linebacker has stood out in coverage during the practices too. Wilson had a pass breakup on Wednesday against a running back over the middle, one of the many impressive plays he has logged this week.
Wilson’s time at the senior bowl is in a different defensive scheme than what Wolfpack defensive coordinator Tony Gibson ran with the 3-3-5. He logged 138 total tackles in his final season in Raleigh with six sacks, six passes defended, three interceptions and a forced fumble. Wilson thought it was a positive to show NFL teams what he can do outside of NC State’s system.
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“It’s been awesome,” Wilson said. “It’s obviously a different scheme than I’m used to, so just being able to showcase that I can do multiple things in different schemes, as well as our 1-on-1s went really well this week.”
While Wilson talked about his time in Mobile, he was also asked about his high school wrestling background and how that has helped in football.
“When I get my hands on you, I feel like I can get anybody in the world down,” Wilson said. “I understand leverage and I understand torque. We hand fight in wrestling a lot, and every single play I’m messing with the o-linemen. … Everything that I did in wrestling, I brought it straight to football.”
Wilson is an all-around talent, but there have been concerns with his injuries from early in his NC State career. Though he has heard a lot about that, Wilson said he learned a lot from that time and it gave him an added motivation on the field.
“I think a lot of people take things for granted, even the simple stuff such as walking, breathing and talking,” Wilson said. “I used to take the game for granted when I never had injuries. I thought I was going to play this game as long as I possibly wanted. Nobody out here knows when their last snap is, so those injuries really light a fire under you.”
