Sticking with the theme of Pittsburgh getting steals with their first three picks, the Steelers drafted Payton Wilson to close out day two of the draft.
Unlike their prior selections, however, Wilson was nearly undisputed as the best of the stacked linebacker class.
That led Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Media to praise the Steelers for taking a shot on Wilson, while questioning the process of other teams:
Payton Wilson's fall was 'Ridiculous'
“He was by far my highest-rated player that was still sitting out there,” Jeremiah told The Pat McAfee Show on Monday. “And I knew because of the injuries and not having an ACL that teams were going to ding him on that, but whether he played lights out in college, literally the best linebacker in the country. He would have been the best linebacker in the draft. So at one point in time when he hadn’t been picked I was like, ‘What are we doing?’” “I would rather have, if you told me this was a one-contract player. Even if you told me I was gonna get three years out of him before he broke down. I’d rather have three years of him than eight years of some of the guys that are on the board at this point in time. At some point in time, it’s ridiculous. But I love what the Steelers did.”
Now, it should be noted that Wilson does come with significant red flags on the injury front. Multiple knee injuries leave him with only one ACL, (the ligament that attaches the knee to your leg) and a shoulder that has been reconstructed.
That being said, not only is his tape undeniable, but since returning from injury he has proven to be durable over the past two seasons and has lost little if any explosion, running in the 4.4's at the NFL Combine and jumping nearly 35 inches in the vertical.
So look, even if he's a one-contract player, meaning he plays the duration of his four-year rookie deal, the 98th overall pick in the draft who is garnering first-round praise will be well worth it.
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