Usage / Role
100%
Featured defensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2019-2023NC State
Payton Wilson
LB • 6'4" • 238 lbs • Hillsborough, NC, USA
Backfield disruptorDown-to-down presence
Payton Wilson shows a backfield disruptor profile with 78.3 disruption score.
Impact Production
100
Top-tier box-score impact for a linebacker
lowelite
Reliability
96
Regular contributor with several takeover games
lowhigh
Star Power
96
Blue-chip, NFL-level ceiling
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2023 Regular Season · NC State
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Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 5
- Program Path
- NC State
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Wake Forest
Player Story
Payton Wilson built his college career from 2019 through 2023 as a linebacker from Hillsborough, NC wearing No. 11, spending time with NC State. The clearest part of Payton Wilson's career was his defensive...
Read the story4★
- Committed To
- NC State
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2018
NFL Draft
- Draft Year
- 2024
- Selection
- Round 3 · Pick 35
- Overall
- No. 98
- NFL Team
- Pittsburgh Steelers
Payton Wilson, LB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2023 Regular Season · NC State. Payton Wilson shows a backfield disruptor profile with 78.3 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 395
- TFL
- 47
- Sacks
- 15
- QB hurries
- 24
- Passes defended
- 13
- Touchdowns
- 2
Quick Answers
Payton Wilson quick answers
- Latest team and position
- NC State · LB
- Career Tackles
- 395
- Tracked sample
- 5 unique seasons · 6 entries · 46 games
- Best season
- 2023 Regular Season · NC State
- Top game
- Wake Forest
- Recruit profile
- 4-star · Orange · NC State
- High school pipeline
- Orange · 1 FBS recruit · 1 drafted player
- NFL Draft
- 2024 · Round 3 · Pick 35 · Pittsburgh Steelers
- Latest roster
- No. 11 · Senior
- 2023 Tackles rank
- 138 tackles · LB 6th (top 1%) · ACC 1st (top 1%) · National 6th (top 1%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Regular Season | NC State | 11 | 69 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 43.4 |
| 2020 Regular Season | NC State | 10 | 108 | 11.5 | 3.5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 66.6 |
| 2021 Regular Season | NC State | 2 | 5 | 1.5 | 1 | - | - | 0 | 48 |
| 2022 Postseason | NC State | 11 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 0 | 63.9 |
| 2022 Regular Season | NC State | 11 | 73 | 9.5 | 2.5 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 63.9 |
| 2023 Regular Season | NC State | 12 | 138 | 17.5 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 89 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Payton Wilson
Payton Wilson played LB for NC State. Across 5 tracked seasons, Payton Wilson recorded 12 rushing yards, 395 tackles, and 2 touchdowns. His top tracked season came in 2023 with NC State.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2023 Regular Season
NC State paired 42.5 primary output with 78.3 efficiency.
Supporting note
2023 Regular Season role shape
impact-led usage with 78.3 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value is trending up
2023 Regular Season improved on the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Louisville
Loss with backfield disruption leading the way. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2023 Regular Season · NC State
Games
12
Havoc Plays / G
3.5
Efficiency
78.3
Usage
21.9
Consistency
77.8
Best Game by takeover score
Louisville
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Active game
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Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. UConn: 3. Notre Dame: 0.5. VMI: 3.5. Virginia: 2. Louisville: 6. Marshall: 3. Duke: 3.5. Clemson: 2.5. Miami: 5. Wake Forest: 4. Virginia Tech: 4.5. North Carolina: 5
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. UConn: 10 by 71.7. Notre Dame: 14 by 55. VMI: 9 by 72.5. Virginia: 13 by 70. Louisville: 10 by 91.7. Marshall: 14 by 80. Duke: 11 by 80.8. Clemson: 8 by 58.3. Miami: 16 by 100. Wake Forest: 7 by 69.2. Virginia Tech: 11 by 90.8. North Carolina: 15 by 100
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins3.6 · Games = 9 · +0.3 vs Losses
Losses3.3 · Games = 3 · -0.3 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
12 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
Louisville
Best efficiency game
100 vs North Carolina
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 11/26 | vs North Carolina10+ tackles · Splash game | W 39-20 | 15 | 8 | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/18 | @ Virginia Tech10+ tackles · Splash game | W 35-28 | 11 | 8 | — | 3.50 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/11 | @ Wake ForestSplash game | W 26-6 | 7 | 5 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sun 11/5 | vs Miami10+ tackles · Splash game | W 20-6 | 16 | 7 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | — | — |
| Sat 10/28 | vs ClemsonSplash game | W 24-17 | 8 | 2 | — | 1.50 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 10/15 | @ Duke10+ tackles · Splash game | L 3-24 | 11 | 6 | — | 2 | 0.50 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/7 | vs Marshall10+ tackles · Splash game | W 48-41 | 14 | 6 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Fri 9/29 | vs Louisville10+ tackles · 2+ sacks | L 10-13 | 10 | 6 | — | 2 | 2 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Fri 9/22 | @ Virginia10+ tackles · Splash game | W 24-21 | 13 | 6 | — | 0.50 | 0.50 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/16 | vs VMISplash game | W 45-7 | 9 | 3 | — | 0.50 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 9/9 | vs Notre Dame10+ tackles | L 24-45 | 14 | 4 | — | 0.50 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Thu 8/31 | @ UConn10+ tackles · Splash game | W 24-14 | 10 | 8 | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
Player Story
Payton Wilson story
Payton Wilson built his college career from 2019 through 2023 as a linebacker from Hillsborough, NC wearing No. 11, spending time with NC State. The clearest part of Payton Wilson's career was his defensive production: 395 tackles, 47 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, and 6 interceptions across 46 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2023 with NC State. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
Defensive careers can be hard to read from one number, but Payton Wilson's production has multiple signals. His career also includes 12 rushing yards, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. With 46 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across NC State.
The arc is straightforward: Payton Wilson moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
NC State
2019-2023
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
201920202021202220222023
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Regular Season | NC State | 10 | 34.5 | 7 | — |
| 2020 Regular Season | NC State | 23 | 65.1 | 13.4 | 13 |
| 2021 Regular Season | NC State | 2.5 | 22.9 | 12.5 | -20.5 |
| 2022 Postseason | NC State | 27 | 51.1 | 14.6 | 24.5 |
| 2022 Regular Season | NC State | 27 | 51.1 | 14.6 | 0 |
| 2023 Regular Season | NC State | 42.5 | 78.3 | 21.9 | 15.5 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
vs Wake Forest
Week 3 · W 45-42 · Conference game
Win with 5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
5
Havoc Plays
97.2 takeover
5 disruption/tackle impact with 97.2 takeover score.
#2
vs Louisville
Week 5 · L 10-13 · Conference game
6
Havoc Plays
97.2 takeover
Loss with backfield disruption leading the way.
6 disruption/tackle impact with 97.2 takeover score.
#3
vs Liberty
Week 12 · W 15-14
4.5
Havoc Plays
95 takeover
Win with 4.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
4.5 disruption/tackle impact with 95 takeover score.
#4
vs North Carolina
Week 13 · W 39-20 · Conference game
5
Havoc Plays
94.4 takeover
Win with 5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
5 disruption/tackle impact with 94.4 takeover score.
#5
vs Miami
Week 10 · W 20-6 · Conference game
5
Havoc Plays
94.4 takeover
Win with 5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
5 disruption/tackle impact with 94.4 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2023 Regular Season · NC State
42.5 primary output · 78.3 efficiency · 21.9 usage
89
#2
2020 Regular Season · NC State
66.6
23 primary · 65.1 efficiency · 13.4 usage
#3
2022 Postseason · NC State
63.9
27 primary · 51.1 efficiency · 14.6 usage
Milestones
26
Impact games
25
Splash games
22
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Payton Wilson
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