PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The focus of the Steelers draft was on the offensive line, selecting three of the seven at that position. However, there was a linebacker drafted late on Friday night that is being described by his coach as a unicorn.
NC State linebacker Payton Wilson won the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker, the Chuck Bednarik Award as the best defensive player in FBS and a unanimous, consensus All-American. Yet he went 98 th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
You hear his college defensive coordinator talk about him, you might think he’s the best player in the class.
“He’s a great character guy,” NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson told the Fan Morning Show. “I always describe him as a unicorn. He’s 6’4”, 238 pounds, runs a 4.43 and plays the game with that speed. Not only does he run that at the Combine, but he plays fast. He’s one of the most instinctive players I’ve ever had the pleasure to coach.”
For a little background on Gibson, he started his coaching career in 1995 and coached at West Virginia (helped recruit Zach Frazier & loved him), Michigan, Pitt, Arizona and NC State. Gibson said Wilson is a very loyal guy, saying he turned down money to stay in Raleigh because he wanted to see it out with his team. He called him ‘a Pittsburgh kind of guy’.
“He’s a three-down linebacker,” Gibson told Adam Crowley and Dorin Dickerson on 93.7 The Fan. “He’s a guy they will never take off the field. He can cover slot receivers. He can cover tight ends. His length, and they he will pull the trigger on his blitz tracks. He has everything and he’s physical in the run game.”
“He’s a different kind of kid.”
Injuries have been a concern, a couple of knee surgeries going back to high school where he no longer has an ACL and missed a lot of 2021 with shoulder surgeries. Over the last two years, not only has Wilson not missed a game, Gibson said he went through every rep at every practice.
He averaged 11.5 tackles per game last season-14 against Notre Dame, 16 against Miami, 15 against North Carolina including a pair of tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and he intercepted Drake Maye, the third overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Gibson compared him to long-time Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly in being long and athletic and says he understands schemes and what offenses are going to do as well as anyone because he put in as much film work as anyone. Gibson said when Wilson was on the field no one was faster than him and that included wide receivers or running backs. He said that’s not opinion, it’s fact.
Then Gibson told Adam and Dorin about the linebacker who started his college career in 2018.
“This dude, I’ve been doing this for 30 years and he’s as good as, if not the best, player I’ve ever coached.”
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