Ian Rapoport Explains Payton Wilson's Fall in 2024 NFL Draft

The North Carolina State linebacker had multiple knee injuries in both high school and college. They are coming back to haunt him in the NFL Draft.

Nov 11, 2023; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack linebacker Payton / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL Draft is a very interesting event. For many reasons, it's the best drama in the history of television. For others, it ends up being either a dream come true or total nightmare.

One of the difficult things about the NFL Draft process is the amount of information that teams have in which the public doesn't. The main piece of information is the medical information on each player.

When a player slides down the board, it is often due to bad medicals after they were examined by team doctors. That explained the fall of North Carolina State's Payton Wilson, who apparently doesn't have an ACL in one knee.

Just now on NFL Network @rapsheet reported on Payton Wilson's fall in the draft: "one of his knees does not have an ACL" ... if that's true his performance the last two years is absolutely outrageous.

— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) April 27, 2024

Wilson has torn his ACL on multiple occasions with numerous surgeries to boot. Not having an ACL is a big deal for an NFL player, as you need the ligament to move laterally. His performance, as Will Brinson mentioned above, is remarkable considering he doesn't have an ACL.

That explained his fall as a fringe first-round prospect, as the Pittsburgh Steelers took him at 98th overall, ending his fall.