Big Board ranking: #60

Positional ranking: #3

 

Overview

Position: LB

College: NC State

Class: Senior (RS)

Age: 24

 

Measurables

Height: 6’3 7/8”

Weight: 233 lbs.

Arm length: 30 1/2″

Hand size: 9”

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.43 sec.

10-yard split: 1.54 sec.

Vertical jump: 34.5”

Broad jump: 119.0”

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Extremely athletic. Energetic and twitchy. Elite speed and closing burst. Extremely light on his feet. Tremendous overall movement and change-of-direction skills. Easy fluidity in coverage. Great reaction time. Outstanding pursuit. A+ effort and hustle. Takes ideal angles to the ball in space. Zero hesitation as a finisher. Throws his body around to make tackles. Aggressive wrapping with both arms to bring down ball-carriers. Terrific as a backside run defender. Good ability to stop and play cutbacks between the tackles. Strings out runs to the sideline from edge alignment. Spins to get off blocks. Shows a willingness to take on lead blockers. Looks around to scan in coverage while shuffling or backpedaling as a zone defender. Outstanding quarterback spy. Excellent feel for when to attack a scrambling quarterback. Knows how to find a path to the quarterback as a blitzer. Fast speed rush with the ability to flatten and use a swim move.

 

Weaknesses

Gets knocked around inside the box. Will come down too aggressively versus the run and get taken out. Lack of overall strength allows blockers to push him aside when they catch a piece. Will be overpowered and taken to the ground. Sometimes comes in out of control and misses with a scraping tackle attempt. Can get caught with his eyes in the backfield and allow opponents to run free. Allows a step too often on wheel routes considering speed/athleticism. Vulnerability versus the run shown versus NFL-caliber offensive line of Notre Dame (2023). Extremely lengthy injury history dating back to high school.

 

NFL comparison

Kiko Alonso

 

Conclusion

Overall, Wilson is an extremely fast, fluid, and athletic linebacker that is at his best out in space and attacking. The concern other than some issues in traditional run support is the injury history, but Wilson’s energy should make him an exciting piece of an NFL defense.