The last and maybe most significant potential returning piece for NC State’s defense is Payton Wilson, who has been weighing his NFL Draft prospects. According to a report from Joe Giglio this afternoon, Wilson is leaning toward a return to college.
Wilson missed the majority of the 2021 season after suffering a should injury against Mississippi State that required surgery. Wilson also injured his shoulders at the tail end of the 2020 season, causing him to miss the Gator Bowl.
As he told the Fayetteville Observer’s David Thompson last month, those injuries are definitely a factor in his decision-making process—as they should be.