Raiders' Christian Wilkins Talks Transition to NFL

Transitioning from college to the NFL was not easy for Las Vegas Raiders defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.

Las Vegas Raiders defensive tackle Christian Wilkins is known as one of the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL and was regarded as one of the best during his days at Clemson as well.

But that doesn't mean the game translated naturally when he moved from the college ranks to the pros. The way Wilkins describes it, it's hard to believe he reached the level he is at today.

"It was definitely a mix of things," Wilkins said when he recently joined the "Third and Long" podcast. Obviously, I had a really good college career, but I knew that wasn't going to do anything for me once I got into the league. But I know people, in a sense, kind of knew who I was or at least were familiar with me a little bit.

" ... And then, obviously, coming in as a first-round pick, there's a lot of expectations, there's a lot of pressure, and I'll be the first one to tell you ... it was probably the worst year of my life, rookie year, like, it was terrible. I thought I forgot how to play football, like it was bad. And that was definitely a humbling experience for me coming in to Miami, new situation, new coach, there was really just a whole rebuild, and I was the foundational piece for that [as] the first draft pick of a new regime and a rebuild.

"And so, there was a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations, and in a lot of ways, I laid an egg. But I wouldn't change that for anything because that only drove me so much more to then prove the decision makers right, prove the city right and to prove everybody wrong who didn't believe in [me].

"So, there was just a lot of work there being done and a lot of dark days. There were a lot of dark days early to where it was just like, 'Aye, how am I going to get out of this? How am I going to become the player I want to become?'"

"So, that was definitely just a added sense of motivation just to do right by the city, by the decision makers and, really, to prove myself right. So, again, I'm definitely glad those experiences happened for me where it was rough for me as a rookie.

"I tell people if I wasn't a first-round pick, I probably wouldn't have made the team. That's how bad it was for me my rookie year in training camp."

You can watch the entire podcast episode here.

The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently have the No. 13 overall pick.

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