The NFL Draft kicks off with its opening round on April 27 in Kansas City, so Rivals is taking a look back at its projected first-round picks when they were high school prospects. We move onto our projected No. 5 – Texas Tech defensive end Tyree Wilson, who was a three-star in the 2018 class.
NFL DRAFT REWIND: No. 1 Bryce Young | No. 2 CJ Stroud | No. 3 Will Anderson | No. 4 Will Levis
*****
MORE: Coaches rip new NCAA rule on official visits
TRANSFER PORTAL: Latest news | Transfer portal player ranking | Transfer portal team ranking | Transfer Tracker | Message board | Team ranking FAQs
CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2024 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
*****
No. 5: DE Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech
Where they were ranked: Wilson was a high three-star weakside defensive end who was No. 26 at the position and No. 65 in the Texas state rankings for the 2018 class.
Recruitment: After working out at Texas A&M’s camp in June, the Aggies’ coaching staff offered the New London (Texas) West Rusk defensive end and then the wheels really started to turn from there.
Wilson returned to College Station two weeks later, this time with his mother for a recruiting weekend and by Monday he was committed to the Aggies. Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, TCU and others were involved in his recruitment at that time and many others got involved later but he stuck with Texas A&M.
Following a redshirt year in 2019 and then not seeing the field much in 2020, Wilson transferred to Texas Tech where he thrived over the last two seasons with seven sacks each year.
Biggest question: His size, length and wingspan are elite but does Wilson have the required burst off the line of scrimmage and reaction time to make plays against elite offensive tackles and running backs getting to the edge?
Memories: Growing up in rural East Texas closer to Shreveport, La., than Dallas, there are not a tremendous amount of high school memories from Wilson. The New London (Texas) West Rusk standout did not attend many camps except ones on college campuses and he was not a majorly known commodity in the 2018 class.
From high school pictures, Wlison was definitely an elite-looking prospect who played mostly stand-up linebacker, covered well and blitzed as well. If we would have seen more of him in person – and projecting on his length and size alone – Wilson probably should have been a four-star prospect.
But he also did not make a significant contribution at Texas A&M and really only came into his own once he got to Lubbock. Wilson had 50 total pressures this season and he totaled 14 sacks over the last two seasons. If there is one slight criticism, a lot of those sacks came when the quarterback had no open receivers down the field or stayed in the pocket too long. But his impact was felt along the line of scrimmage.
The reason I put Wilson fifth here to the Seattle Seahawks is because they needed defensive line help and they got a lot from free agency. But Seattle is still looking for an elite edge rusher to finish off the line of scrimmage and Wilson has all those tools. He’s thrived in three-man fronts, four-man fronts, standing up, inside moves, off the edge, everything.
