NC State LB Payton Wilson ‘one of the most fearless players’ in NFL draft

Ask ESPN NFL Insider Field Yates about NC State linebacker Payton Wilson and it will not take long for him to gush over the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. 

“Payton Wilson is a maniac on the football field,” Yates told TheWolfpacker.com on Thursday afternoon. “He’s one of the most fearless players that I’ve seen in the entire draft. He’ll hit anything. He will hit an oncoming train if he could.”

Wilson, who also won the Bednarik (best defensive player) and Butkus (best linebacker) awards after a standout season, was a known commodity for prospective NFL teams. He logged a career-best 138 tackles (an ACC best), including 17.5 for a loss (also the most in the league) with six sacks, three interceptions and 10 passes defended in his final season in Raleigh. 

And when he arrived at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last week, Wilson affirmed what he could do on the field. He posted the fastest 40-yard dash time of any linebacker present at the event — 4.43, which was the fifth-fastest on record for the position at the combine. 

Yates, who has Wilson ranked as the third-best linebacker in his most recent draft positional rankings, said that speed shows up on tape with his ability to fly around the field. The draft guru also thought Wilson’s speed helps in his versatility as an edge rusher, while he projects as a linebacker at the NFL level. 

Though Wilson was the best at his position this past season, as the multiple awards showed, Yates had a pair of concerns that could hold the linebacker back in the draft. 

“The two questions that will come back to Payton Wilson, and I hate to make it as simple as this in his case because I love so much of what he brings to the table, would be he’s a little bit of an older prospect … and the injury history,” Yates said. “Unfortunately, it’s something that teams will have to evaluate.”

The age issue is not as big as it used to be in the draft, Yates said. He noted that the COVID year and transfer rules, as well as NIL money, have led to players going back to college before entering the draft. Yates said that there are plenty of 22-24-year-olds projected in the top 60 picks. 

So Wilson, who will turn 24 the week of the NFL draft, should not have an issue there, but his injury past seems to be a concern for some around the league. Wilson suffered a torn ACL during his senior year at nearby Orange High. Once he arrived in Raleigh, he had a second knee injury, which led to a redshirt campaign during his freshman season. He also suffered a season-ending shoulder injury at Mississippi State, the second game of his junior year, in 2021. 

Despite the multiple injury-laden seasons, Wilson has put together a pair of campaigns that proved he could stay healthy on a consistent basis, including an 83-tackle season in 2022, which led to a semifinalist nod for the Comeback Player of the Year Award.

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah told TheWolfpacker.com the injury past was a concern for teams before the NFL Combine, but he noted that if the medical evaluation came back clean from Indianapolis, then Wilson was a second-round pick. 

Yates, who said he has not heard the specifics of the medical reports from the combine yet, agreed with that analysis.. 

“If you threw away that part of the conversation, which you can’t do but if you could, I think he might be a top 40-45 player in the entire draft,” Yates said of Wilson’s injury history. “If that comes out clean, it wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up going somewhere in the middle of the second round.”

Though the injury piece is there for Wilson, that seems to be the only concern among NFL draft experts and those in front offices. They know what Wilson can do on the field, he proved that with the Wolfpack. 

It is all a matter of staying on the field at the NFL level for Wilson. If he does that, Yates believes Wilson has a high bar of potential for his impact on an NFL defense. 

“There are not too many guys that have a higher floor in this draft than Payton Wilson if they stay healthy,” Yates said. “I don’t see how that kind of athletic ability combined with that kind of leadership and that kind of mentality at the linebacker spot could fail. It’s really only the medicals that I think could hold him back.”