LATROBE, PA (93.7 The Fan) – A first team All-American and winner of the Chuck Bednarik and Dick Butkus awards, Payton Wilson lasted until the 98th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. In his first pro preseason game, Wilson led the Steelers in tackles and he still has room to grow.
“I would say he has a good first outing,” linebackers coach Aaron Curry told 93.7 The Fan. “Him and I don’t usually discuss how well he performs. We always discuss what he can do to take his game to the next level.”
“He had a really good first outing.
We are still looking for ways to continue to take his game to the next level.
He’s a coachable player that wants to be the best. I’m trying to do everything I can to help him achieve his goals.”
It’s what you’ve heard several players say about Wilson, that he is always asking questions and wanting to be better. He has a passion for the game.
“I thought it was a really good start for him,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “He was highly active on defense and in teams, but I think it's reasonable to expect him to be more detailed with that activity, with more exposure.”
So how does the player who finished with 136 tackles last year at NC State do that?
“Calm down,” Curry told 93.7 The Fan. “Calm down and relax and let the game come to him at times.”
There were some mistakes, a couple of tackles he could have finished and a few times he was beaten in coverage. Curry was asked if it’s common for rookies to need to calm down, Curry said Wilson’s not common.
“Most rookies aren’t ready for the moment,” Curry said. “He was more than ready for the moment. He has such a ball-seeking and ball-hawking mentality, that it caused him at times to play a little bit faster than what he needed to be playing.”
“Once he finds he rhythm and his tempo and his calmness in his play, he’ll begin to make more plays.”
A first-round linebacker himself, Curry said Wilson fits the new mold of linebackers, putting his skillset with All-Pro’s like Fred Werner, Bobby Wagner, Jordan Brooks and his teammate Patrick Queen, who is already mentoring him to an extent.
Steelers assistant general manager Andy Weidl said when they were scouting Wilson his production spoke for itself, but then you see him in all phases-run, pass, pass rushing, his range. He ran a sub-4.5 40-yard dash.
“He was a really good football player with an excellent football character, high level football maturity,” Weidl said.
“We were able to see him in the fall. We saw him at the Senior Bowl. We interviewed him there, we brought him in here, and did our homework, and we just saw him as an opportunity at the third round to catch a player that, ability-wise, we saw better than that. Credit to Omar
pulling the trigger on it and doing the due diligence on him.”
“But you know what, that guy loves football. He lives football. He's all
football, and his physical attributes.
You're seeing him on the field. The range he has. I mean, right off the bat the other night, you saw him make some plays, and you know he wasn't perfect the other night, but he's going to keep getting better and better, because a guy loves the game so much, and he lives it.
Asked how good he could be, Curry, who has been around the pro and college game for 20 years, just smiled.
“Let him and I tell it, there are tons left in his game,” Curry told 93.7 The Fan. “We are constantly on a day-to-day basis trying to find areas of improvement.”
What will he look like when that happens?