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Payton Wilson

Linebacker, Pittsburgh Steelers · #41.

Player facts

Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
Position: Linebacker
Number: 41
Born: Apr 21, 2000 (age 26)
Birthplace: Hillsborough, NC, USA
Height: 6' 4"
Weight: 242 lbs
College: NC State
Experience: 3 seasons
Status: Active

Stats

Among the NFL leaders, 2026 Regular Season:

8th in total tackles 44

2026 Defense

	TOT	SOLO	AST	SACK	FF	FR	YDS	INT	YDS	AVG	LNG	PD	STF	STFYDS
Regular Season	44	23	21	1	0	1	0	0	0	0.0	0	2	5.5	13
Last 5 Games	44	23	21	1	0	1	0	0	0	0.0	0	2	4.5	0
Career	248	146	102	3	1	4	22	2	17	8.5	17	6	15.5	34

Recent games

			Tackles				Fumbles		Interceptions
Date	Opponent	Result	TOT	SOLO	AST	SACK	FF	FR	INT	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	PD	KB
Sun, Oct 11	vs IND	W 34-22	10	8	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	1	0
Thu, Oct 1	@ CLE	L 27-24	9	7	2	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Sun, Sep 27	vs CIN	W 30-27	6	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	1	0
Sun, Sep 20	@ NE	L 20-3	6	4	2	0	0	1	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Sun, Sep 13	vs ATL	W 20-13	13	4	9	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0

Last 5 games. Click a game for its box score.

About

Payton Tanner Wilson (born April 21, 2000) is an American professional football linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the NC State Wolfpack, winning the Chuck Bednarik Award and Butkus Award in 2023. Wilson was selected by the Steelers in the third round, 98th overall in the 2024 NFL draft.

From Wikipedia’s article on Payton Wilson, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.¹

Background

Early life

Wilson grew up in Hillsborough, North Carolina and attended Orange High School. He was a three-sport athlete in football, wrestling, and lacrosse. As a junior, he made 127 tackles with 39 tackles for loss and 13 sacks. Wilson was also the 2017 North Carolina 3A 220-pound wrestling state champion his junior year. His senior year, he had 103 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks before tearing his ACL. Wilson was rated a four-star recruit and initially committed to play college football at North Carolina (UNC) over offers from Clemson, Ohio State, and Virginia Tech. He later decommitted from UNC and signed to play at NC State.

College career

Wilson suffered a second knee injury during summer training camp and redshirted his true freshman season at NC State.

He led the Wolfpack with 69 tackles during his redshirt freshman season. Wilson made 108 tackles with 11.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and two interceptions and was named first team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in his redshirt sophomore season.

He suffered a season ending shoulder injury in the second game of his junior season. He followed up his junior season with a total of 83 tackles with 39 being solo tackles. He had 4.5 sacks during the season and recorded an interception which he returned for 19 yards.

In 2023, Wilson received the Bednarik Award, given annually to the best defensive player in college football, and the Butkus Award, given annually to college football's best linebacker. He concluded his college career with 138 tackles (69 solo), six passes defended, 6 sacks, a forced fumble and three interceptions, all career highs.