Payton Wilson

He, Jer'Zahn Newton, Zach Frazier, Adonai Mitchell or Cooper DeJean were my biggest steals.

 

Right, seen some say he has shorter arms, like that really matters when he's still 6'4". You still have to throw over him if he's even at least close in coverage over the middle.

 

Luke Kuechly's arms are only 31 inches total.


I think he had a pretty good career. For that matter, Patrick Queens is 31.625 (31 and five eights to be more specific). I think Wilson will be fine.

 

Wilson's 4.43 40 at the combine not only made him the fastest linebacker, it was also:
The fastest among tight ends...
Third fastest safety....
10th fastest CB....
and 13th fastest WR.

And yes, he only has 30 1/2" arms.

 

Not to mention his tape is very impressive. We've all seen those guys that by the numbers should be good, but the tape doesn't lie!

 

Gotta remember that a lot of these guys drop some weight for the combine/pro day in order to run as fast as they can in the 40. Roquan Smith was 236 at the combine, and Shazier was 237. Wilson weighed 233. He just looks a bit lighter than those guys because he is 6'4'' and has a bigger frame to fill out. Roquan and Shazier are both 6'1''. Wilson is essentially built like Luke Kuechly was, and it really didn't hinder Luke from being a really good player. He's just a different type of player.

I am not saying Wilson is going to turn out like Shazier or anything (because Shazier was GREAT), but he is a similar "style" of player. Someone that will be able to run with and cover TE's, RB's and even some WR's. He will have to shoot gaps and use his speed to slip blocks at the NFL level to make an impact in the run game, but his speed will have tremendous impact sideline to sideline. I think his style is super valuable in today's game.

I am less concerned with the injury history. Some guys are injury prone early then never get hurt again, and guys with clean bills of health come to the league and spend half their career on IR... Its mostly just luck. His ACL surgeries were in 2017 and 2018. His shoulder surgery was 2021. He apparently has had 0 issues with the knees throughout his college career and the shoulder thing isn't really all that concerning. It happens. I like the pick a lot and think that he has a pretty good shot at being a contributor to the defense sooner rather than later. I doubt he supplants Roberts for a starting role, but I could definitely see him rotating in on 3rd downs and in passing sets if he is able to pick up the mental aspect of the NFL quickly. He would fill the Kwon Alexander role quite well.

 

To top this off, Robertson is in the last year of his deal.

If everyone looked at the players in the last year of their deals, I know I didn't, IT showed what the Steelers planed to do after their 1st three picks.

Daniels, they picked McCormick. Robertson, they picked Wilson, Herbig, ??? Have Anderson Cam, next to nothing out of Leal and Milk, signed Lowery, drafted Lee. Jackson, 2 promising Avatars, drafted a slower but promising Avatar in Watts, that's a lot of nice young talent trying and fighting to move up. Friermuth, can't fill them all in the draft. Did sign Smith's TE his last two stops.

A pretty dam nice job, and this doesn't even factor in Queen! Plus Queen help to get Elliot at SS.

Allen.

 

has a shot at what?

 

what?

I guess Luke Kuechly's assessment is not enough for you?

gimme a break, armchair scouts......


former Carolina Panthers star linebacker Luke Kuechly drew parallels between Wilson and himself, a comparison that carries immense weight given Kuechly's status as one of the premier linebackers in recent memory. Kuechly discussed the comparison between himself and the new Steelers linebacker during an appearance on the Up and Adams Show with Kay Adams on Monday.

“There’s a guy that I loved watching for a long time up at NC State, Payton Wilson. He ran extremely well. He was in the 4.4’s and he’s been super productive and he plays really hard. He’s taller than me and he’s faster than me and he’s going to be in the NFL, so I’m jealous of those guys. Look at him run right there. He’s got great hair and he’s jacked. He looks good.”

 

Apparently, Wilson does have an ACL in both knees, but one looks different due to the revision surgery on his knee.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5484731/2024/05/11/payton-wilson-steelers-acl-injury-history/

The guy has had so many surgeries that he lost track of the number. That's not good.

 

None on his knees in five years. None on his shoulders in three. If there was a serious problem, it would have shown up by now.

 

Let's hope the kid stays healthy.....because If He does....I think He will be really really good.

 

It did show up. That is why he had all those surgeries. He is more vulnerable to serious injury than most players. The question is how much more and will he be lucky enough to avoid them. It seems clear he will do the work to be in the sort of shape that will help him stay healthy.