3 First-Round Prospects That Could Fall to the Cowboys at No. 56

1. Payton Wilson, LB, NC State

Arguably the most impressive linebacker in this entire class is Payton Wilson from North Carolina State. Wilson has the desired size at 6-foot-4 and 233 pounds and can fly from sideline to sideline — as evidenced by his 4.43 in the 40-yard dash.

He even has the production with 402 tackles, 15 sacks, and seven interceptions during his career. The problem is that he’s one of the older prospects and has a long injury history.

Wilson will be 24 the week of the 2024 NFL Draft and while that’s not typically a strong enough reason for such a talented player to drop out of the first round, his durability concerns might be. While playing for the Wolfpack, he had a knee injury and shoulder injury that cost him time and required surgery.

His injury concerns even date back to his high school days and will be a reason for some teams to have him off their board completely.

Given the number of times Dallas has been burnt by drafting injury-prone players, they should be one of those teams. As good as Sean Lee and Leighton Vander Esch were, it didn’t matter when they were unable to suit up — and that happened often.

Wilson could slide to Dallas at No. 56 and then we might wind up holding our breath as we wait to see if they grab an exciting prospect who could miss significant time in his career.

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