Payton Wilson went No. 98 overall on Friday night in the NFL draft to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was projected to be selected higher after an impressive final year at North Carolina State, but there was a specific injury concern that reportedly scared teams away.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the 24-year-old linebacker is missing an ACL in one of his knees.
From our NFL Draft coverage: The #Steelers selected at No. 98 a stud LB with stellar tape (but very real injury history) — NC State LB Payton Wilson. Despite all that, never misses games and had a million tackles. pic.twitter.com/zaRRSUcsfp
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 27, 2024
“He has a multitude of injuries. First, there’s a left shoulder injury that was operated on, was not a great operation,” Rapoport said. “That certainly is a lingering injury. That’s actually not the worst of it. He has torn his ACL twice. My understanding, after talking to several sources, is that one of his knees does not have an ACL. It does not have an ACL. We’ve actually seen this in a couple of other players — Greg Lloyd, Thurman Thomas.
For Payton Wilson, he has not missed a game and [had] 150 tackles. There are some secondary stabilizers in that knee, but that’s the reason why [for his slide].”
Despite a missing ACL and previous injuries that caused him to miss time with the Wolfpack over his five years in Raleigh, Wilson recorded 138 total tackles and six sacks in 2023. He ended up winning the Chuck Bednarik Award as the best defender in college football and the Butkus Award as top linebacker. He was also a unanimous All-American selection, first-team All-ACC,and ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Wilson’s 4.43 40-yard dash at February’s NFL Scouting Combine was tops among all linebackers who participated.
“He was a guy we had high on our board,” said Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. “Liked him as a football player. Very productive, fast, really has good football instincts. All the things you want in a…
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