The Pittsburgh Steelers were all in on linebacker Payton Wilson in the 2024 NFL Draft, despite concerns about the health of one of his knees. On Wednesday, general manager Omar Khan opened up about those concerns and explained why he believes it was worth it to draft the 24-year-old defender. The Steelers snagged Wilson with the No. 98 overall pick despite reports that he has no ACL in one of his knees, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
“He loves football,” Khan said on the Pat McAfee Show. “We had him graded really high, and he was still sitting there with our second third-round pick. We wouldn’t have done it unless our doctors had given us the go-ahead. Our doctors, they’re second-to-none. We trust them completely. If they hadn’t cleared him, we wouldn’t have taken him.”
The crucial ligament located in the middle of the knee is missing due to an injury he sustained early in his career. It’s more shocking, however, given that it didn’t stop Wilson from winning the 2023 Butkus Award and the 2023 Bednarik Award.
His time at the collegiate level was extended numerous times due to injury. Wilson suffered a torn ACL during his senior year at nearby Orange High. Once he arrived in Raleigh, he had a second knee injury, which led to a redshirt campaign during his freshman season at NC State.
He also suffered a season-ending shoulder injury at Mississippi State, the second game of his junior year, in 2021. Despite his history of injuries, Wilson put together back-to-back healthy seasons to close out his collegiate career.
Wilson headed to Pittsburgh after NC State career
Wilson was excellent for the Wolfpack, tallying 402 tackles, 48 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, seven interceptions and one forced fumble in his career. His 2023 campaign was particularly stellar. This past season, Wilson exploded for 138 tackles, 17.5 TFLs, six sacks and three picks.
For his efforts, Wilson won the 2023 Chuck Bednarik Award and Butkus Award while also being named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Additionally, he was a unanimous consensus All-American, only the fourth in school history.
Wilson is not only skilled but he’s also a physical talent. Standing at 6-foot-4, 233 pounds, he busted out a blazing 4.43-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. Further, he recorded a 34.5” vertical jump and a 9’11” broad jump.
On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this report.
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