Name: Marvin Wilson

School: Florida St.

Year: Sr

Position: Interior Defensive Lineman

Measurements:  6’4” & 311 lbs

STATS:

General Info:

A 5-star prospect out of Houston, Texas, Florida State’s Marvin Wilson was one of the most sought after recruits in the country. He was recruited by every major program, and he was ranked no worse than sixth by 24/7 Sports, ESPN 300 and Rivals.com. When he landed with FSU, he was the crown jewel of a star-studded class that was considered in the top five of all recruiting classes that was expected to bring the Seminoles out of a slight downswing.

Unfortunately for Wilson, FSU just couldn’t ever get the coaching right, and, despite being loaded with talented players, they never finished better than 7-6 which came in his freshman season, and that was the lone season they finished above .500 during his tenure. However, despite all of those struggles, you’d be hard-pressed to put that blame on Wilson who was consistently developing on and off the field through all four years.

After suffering a season-ending injury in 2019, he elected to return for a final college season to try and improve himself for the NFL. He was voted as a team captain in 2019, and he was consistently holding everyone within the team responsible, which included coaches. There was a rift between Wilson and the players against the coaches during the summer of 2020 regarding how meetings with players were being represented. Between his maturity within the team along with his work to improve the community through his program “Marvin’s Movement”, he’ll have the character box thoroughly checked during the pre-draft process.

Positional Skills:

When you turn on the tape for Wilson, you have to wonder whether his issues are rooted in himself or in the coaching he was under. His motor lacked consistency throughout games, and, when his team was losing big, which they often were, that inconsistent motor started to show up. He’d run hot on one play before allowing himself to get beat with relative ease on the following play.

Wilson is going to be more of a run-stuffer than a pass rusher. He knows how to use his size well to soak up blockers while defending the run as a traditional defensive tackle. He’s got good power in his upper half and strong hands that he uses to stack blockers in the running game. When he’s rushing the passer, his primary moves are a bull rush or a push-pull move to jerk himself past potential blockers. He profiles best in a 4-3 scheme as a defensive tackle, as he’s an awkward fit in 3-4 schemes being too large to play defensive end but too small to be a true nose tackle.

When motivated, Wilson’s motor runs hot, but he doesn’t have a ton of burst to go with it. He’s rarely the first guy off the ball, and, when running in the open field, it takes a number of strides to get up to top speed. His pass rush moves are relatively limited to this stage, and it’s going to be tough for him to bully players at the next level as most of them will have a better anchor than the interior blockers he was going up against in college. If he’s unable to improve his hand-fighting, he’ll never be much of a pass rusher. Wilson possesses good play strength, but he will need to learn how to use it more efficiently because he can be overaggressive and put into the ground quickly by more technically sound players. He will also need to fill out his lower half at the next level because his legs are currently much smaller than one would expect of a typical player at 311 pounds. If he ever loses the leverage battle, which is a strong possibility at his height and high hand placement, he’s going to get shoved backwards in a hurry if he fails to improve the strength in his legs.

Fit with the Packers:

With Green Bay looking for more depth and possibly starters along the defensive line alongside Kenny Clark, they’re taking a strong look at this defensive line class. Wilson’s fit with Green Bay is not a flawless one. As previously stated, his best schematic fit is in a 4-3 scheme as a traditional defensive tackle. With new defensive coordinator Joe Barry at the helm, they’re still running a 3-4 as the base defense that focuses on getting pressure with just the front four. With a lack of elite pass rushing tools, that is a knock on Wilson’s case.

Another factor working against Wilson is his athleticism. He doesn’t possess great play speed on tape, and Barry has stated on multiple occasions how important speed is to him in the modern NFL. Players such as Aaron Donald, Christian Fox and Michael Brockers were lean, fast players that could slash into gaps at the line. Wilson doesn’t fit that mold in any way shape or form.

This draft class has some draft prospects that should be of interest to Green Bay under new defensive coordinator Joe Barry to build around star nose tackle Kenny Clark. The linemen need to be able to slash into gaps at the line of scrimmage rather than just soaking up blockers at the line of scrimmage. In the right situation with the proper coaching, Wilson could make a nice career for himself in the NFL. More than likely, he’s not going to end up in Titletown by the time the draft has come to an end.