Why PAYTON WILSON Was an IMPOSSIBLE PICK for the Steelers (His Insane Rise)

Why PAYTON WILSON Was an IMPOSSIBLE PICK for the Steelers (His Insane Rise)

over the last few weeks I’ve done a ton of videos on different rookies from the 2024 NFL draft class and today we’re going to talk about another player who has a crazy story at one point he came from an extremely small town and his chances of ever becoming a big- Time recruit were pretty much zero he also suffered more than four injuries while he was in college and despite that ended up becoming the best linebacker in college football and is now a rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers his name is Payton Wilson today we’re to talk about his impossible Story how he went from a small Town kid who overcame four different injuries to now being a guy that some say is a steal of the draft but before we get started if you’re a big fan of college football be sure to subscribe to the channel leave a like if you to support today’s video and let me know what player team topic or situation I can cover next now let’s get started and talk about the insane rise of pton Wilson recently one of you guys commented on a video to make a video about pton Wilson and I’m very glad you did he was a prospect that I never really thought about and he actually has a really cool story but in order to understand who he is we first need to go back in time he was one of the Premier High School football prospects in the country at one point but he had two different ACL injuries in 9 months and that forced him to almost give up football he had to learn extreme mental toughness and thankfully he would rely on that toughness and his natural athleticism going back in time he grew up playing baseball with his brother Bryce and his most important sport was wrestling he eventually became a state champion wrestler at Orange High School in Hillsboro North Carolina and he had been wrestling since the age of four and and that really helped him on the grid iron he said quote wrestling instills a lot into you when it comes to football in hand fighting if I get my hands on you you’re going to go to the ground and it helps you to understand leverage and torque but wrestling is different in football when you mess up there’s 10 other guys to help you out in wrestling if you mess up you’re to go on top of your head and get embarrassed in front of your mom dad and friends yeah it makes sense in terms of football he was born to play the linebacker position and also apparently his family liked another North Carolina School it was due Duke the Wilson family actually ended up growing up going to Duke games and he said quote and he said quote my dad and brother were Duke fans I’ve never really had a preference I just like watching football Wilson’s dad had been a standout football player at Orange High School while his mother was also a star athlete in addition I did say he played baseball with his older brother Bryce and he was actually really good he was a star at both football and basketball orange before he was actually selected in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB draft that’s pretty good in middle school pton would eventually start to get recognition as his coach Aaron Carr said quote he was a phenomenal player a great teammate and a great friend we kind of knew all along that he was going to be special and you could tell him Middle School that he was going to be great as a freshman at Orange Wilson played on the JV team and did a little bit of everything as a sophomore he’d get more into a role defensively and would eventually record 36 tackles including 10 tfls and that came in just five Varsity games he also ran for over 750 yards and caught over 300 yards worth of passes that came his Junior season and then he had a gross spurt that really helped him out his coach said quote a lot of kids that grow that tall are really fast and awkward like a newborn giraffe but he never really had that this led him to getting a decent amount of recruiting attention as schools such as NC State Wake Forest East Carolina and Appalachian State all offered him pretty early on Wilson wanted to show college coaches he could play more than just one position and that he was athletic that would eventually end up happening as then as a junior he blew up nationally he eventually got an offer from Notre Dame and he’s considered a do all type Prospect his coach said quote he’s very versatile and we’ve used him at wide receiver running back and tight end he also even played Safety for us defensive end and return punts eventually when it came time to make a decision he was listed as a four-star recruit and would choose to commit to play for North Carolina why the Tar Heels he said quote it felt like home for the whole recruiting process and I feel it’s a place I can go and get some playing time the future is bright for UNCC and I’m ready to go and see what we can do but he would end up having some setbacks during his senior year he had a brutal knee injury and this would happen on the opening kickoff in one of their games against Cedar Ridge this would end up holding him back and I guess with all that time to think he decided he was going to switch things up in November of 2017 he said quote this is one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make and I’d like to thank coach Fedora and Coach JP for everything they’ve done for me but I’m going to reopen my recruiting process and decommit from UNCC so from there there were plenty of schools that really wanted him and it looked like Notre Dame or even Ohio state was probably going to land him but he eventually chose to stay in State and commit to play for NC State why did he go to the wolf pack well he had some of a funny answer he said quote I’m a country guy who loves to play hard knows football and that’s what they are about there they care about football at State they don’t just go and watch until basketball season I don’t know if that’s entirely true as UNC has had some really good years but maybe at the time of his commitment NC State was a little bit better I don’t really know but this all came after Dave Dorne decided to stay in Raleigh and Payton Wilson was now going there this was a huge get for NC State but as I said those injuries would cause a setback the first one came towards the end of his senior year and he said quote the toughest thing for me was the mental aspect physically it was a matter of rehab and waiting but mentally seeing your brothers and friends go out there in practice that really sucked according to 24/7 Sports Wilson was a four-star recruit the number four outside linebacker and the 39th best player in the class of 2018 so how would he end up doing in Raleigh well let’s take a look so when Wilson arrived at NC State instead of playing in front of 60,000 people in 2018 he would spend time rehabbing he hurt his ACL once again for the second time in 9 months and this helped him gain a new appreciation for the game of football he said quote I missed two years due to injury but before I got injured football was just football and I never realized how fast something could be taken away well by the time State’s 2019 fall Camp started he was ready to roll and he would make up for lost time in 2019 in total with the pack he finished with 69 tackles and three pass deflections plus he had his first career interception Wilson looked like the real deal and in 2020 he went even more crazy he ended up finishing with 108 total tackles with one pass deflection and two interceptions 2020 was his breakout moment and I guess technically he could have declared for the draft because it was after 3 years but Wilson was not done yet it was a weird 2020 season in college football and he was going to try to build upon it even more sadly injuries would really get in the way as in 2021 he would miss a total of 10 different games that led him to only having five t tackles and Wilson was extremely upset after all that in fact between 2019 and 2022 he would miss a total of 15 different games for the pack luckily 2022 would be a much better season as in total this time he had 83 tackles with three pass deflections and another pick Wilson was one of the better linebackers in the country but he decided to use his exterior eligibility and come back for one more special season he’s hoping that NC State would be able to build upon last year and it was semi true in total Wilson had a crazy year he by far became the best linebacker in the country as he finished with 138 tackles six pass deflections one forced fumble six sacks and three interceptions one of them was even a pick six and Wilson literally did pretty much everything their offensive lineman Joe skorp said quote the kid’s a freak he has one speed and that is go it doesn’t just happen on game day he puts that in throughout the week and shows up on game day because of that he was named the 2023 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and won the Bernar award for the best defense defensive player in all college football he also won the buckus award for the best linebacker in the country and became an AP first team All-American you could say it was probably worth it for pton Wilson to come back for one more season because of that insane stat line and his combination of size physicality and Elite athleticism he was seen as a prospect that would likely go in the second round combin that also with his mindset and determination and this guy was a rare breed in 47 total games at the pack he made 42 tackles including 48 t NLS and also had 15 sacks and seven interceptions this was great for Payton and he would now head off to the NFL draft he was seen as the most athletic defender in this year’s draft class and excelled at pretty much everything on the football field and checked every single box but there was one near Universal agreement in the draft community and that was his injury history he had had four different injuries from 2018 to 2022 and it seemed like the guy was literally always hurt whether it was his knees or his shoulders pyton Wilson was on the sidelines all the time because that to make matters worse it was also reported that he was apparently missing an ACL I mean that’s not the first time that’s happened to a prospect but this just added a ton of concern that he would not be able to make it in the NFL because of the durability that’s necessary to make it because of the insane durability that is required according to NFL Mock database pton Wilson was seen as a second round pick and the 45th best Prospect in this year’s draft class he even had a 10% chance of going in the first round and the consensus was he be taken in the top half of the second night sadly that would not end up happening as he would fall all the way to pick number 98 in many people’s eyes this became the steal of the draft as a guy who was potentially a first round Talent ended up slipping to the third round on top of his athleticism and stats he also ran the fastest 40-yard dash of all linebackers with a 4.43 time and tied for the fastest 10 yard split they were getting a guy who could pretty much do everything and they would get a steal if he could just remain healthy he was super excited to get off to the NFL and he said quote I grew up on a farm in a small town with 9,000 people so whoever I met on the field I want to prove I’m the bigger man the stronger man and if you beat me I’m coming back 100 times over that’s the sort of attitude that really fits in with the Pittsburgh Steelers and their culture and many are super excited for his potential there Wilson said quote I like to take people’s heads off and I like to fly around with the best of them Steelers fans are definitely going to like that and not only was Wilson accomplished at many sports he is firsthand knowledge of how professional athletes are supposed to act as his brother was obviously that fourth round pick in the MLB draft and got his chance to play in the majors overall it’s a pretty cool story for pton Wilson as he came from a small town overcame four different injuries and became one of the best players in college football and now get his chance in the league I’m definitely not betting against him and I definitely am excited to see what he’s going to do in Pittsburgh but what do you guys think if you’re a Steelers or an NC State fan what do you think of pton Wilson what other rookie should I cover next and before you go don’t forget to leave a like subscribe if you’re new and check out all of the videos on the end screen including my video about the rise of Trey Benson I hope to see you guys again soon but until next time peace

A few years ago, Payton was just a small town prospect who had no shot of making it to the NFL. 4 injuries and 6 years later though, Wilson became a superstar linebacker for NC State and despite falling to the 3rd round, the Steelers got a steal. Today, we are going to talk about the impossible rise of Payton Wilson and how all this happened, enjoy!