Former Alabama linebacker Mack Wilson was a defensive leader that shocked many with his decision to forego his senior collegiate season to enter the 2019 NFL Draft.
While some believed it to be a career-damaging decision, he is now primed to serve a key role on the Cleveland Browns’ defense for 2020 and make his name known across the league.
The beginning of Wilson’s break-out campaign has already happened, before the games started, before positional groups had their initial meetings and before players even reported for training camp.
The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic forced many people to make difficult decisions, and it has put a lot of individuals and organizations in an uncomfortable position. When the NFL offered players the option to opt out of the 2020 season without any repercussions, many jumped at the opportunity, citing personal health concerns or concerns over their loved ones.
In Wilson’s mind, it wasn’t a difficult decision. He was going to play football. In talking with the former Crimson Tide standout, this is what he had to say when posed the question by Roll Tide Wire:
“This is something that I want to do, obviously I want to make sure that everyone is protected and I know that it means a lot to everybody in the National Football League on them being safe,” said Wilson. “So, we just want to make sure that everybody does their part, and that everybody just makes sure that they are staying in their team bubble.”
He puts a lot of trust in his teammates and fellow NFL players in the hope that they follow protocol to keep everyone safe and the 2020 season running.
He likes the NFL’s plan in regards to constant, daily testing. In order for this season to work, Wilson believes that other players in the league must take it seriously to prevent a potential league-wide outbreak.
“I care about my health as well, don’t get that confused or anything, but I’m just going to stay in my bubble. I don’t want my family to come around me as much, because I never know if I will have it or if I do get it.”
Wilson was drafted in the fifth round back in 2019 by the Browns, much later than he had anticipated. This helped feed the argument from his critics that he should have stayed at Alabama for his senior season.
Despite the criticism at the time, Wilson was confident that he made the right decision.
“Everybody has their own opinions, sometimes I think to myself- I get in my football mode and just think about my football life in general, even from when I was younger. What would have happened if I came back for my senior year of college? Some things I could have done better from being younger all the way up to this point, I just had to go with my gut and do what was best for my family and myself.”
Being such a late-round pick, it was believed Wilson would be fighting for a spot on the roster. Instead, he worked his way into a significant role during his rookie season, playing in all 16 games and starting in 14 of them.
In those 16 appearances, the Alabama product recorded the second-highest tackle total (82) on the team to go along with seven pass deflections, a forced fumble and an interception.
Wilson’s numbers were commendable, but nothing that will bring him national attention — at least not yet.
The 6-foot-1, 233-pounder now looks to this upcoming season as his chance at a true breakout — or as Wilson likes to put it, his “Joe Burrow season.”
He explained that he believes Burrow had a perfect season in his last year of college and would like for his sophomore season in the league to be the defensive equivalent to that.
Wilson credits his significant amount of playing time as a rookie to being able to learn from in-game experiences and actively work on his craft.
“I feel like my rookie season, I made a lot of mistakes, just going back and looking at some of the games we played last season. I left a lot of plays on the field, I missed a lot of runs, blew a few coverages, just making a lot of rookie mistakes and I tried to fix those as we went on week by week, but this year I’m way more comfortable than I’ve ever been. I feel like this is like my sophomore year in college, I’m just comfortable.”
On top of being more comfortable on the field and more familiar with the playbook, Wilson is now looked to as a young leader on the defense.
“Coach is looking for me to be a leader on the defense and that’s what I’m going to do, even if I don’t have the green sticker on my helmet which me being the signal caller, the ‘mike’, I’m still going to be that leader on the defense, I’m still going to do whatever it takes to help us win.”
He also believes everyone on the defense serves a big role. A large part of that, according to Wilson, comes with “buying into the game plan,” which will now be led by first-year defensive coordinator Joe Woods.
With all the pieces put into place, it comes down to Wilson performing on the field and elevating Cleveland’s defensive potential. He feels the need to not only prove to Browns fans that he’s their guy, he wants to put the NFL on notice as a second-year player that is about to be thrusted into a leadership role.
“There’s always a lot to prove. And just always thinking about my experience from the NFL draft, and all the guys that were drafted in front of me. Like everybody says, 40-something guys at my position were better than me in that draft, and I always think about that. I’ve got a lot of goals.”
His primary goal is simple: “Do whatever I can to help this team win.” However, his personal goals for the season include: recording over 100 total tackles, hauling in at least seven interceptions and producing at least six sacks.
For only being a second-year player, Wilson is extremely team-oriented, and predicts a bright future for the recently struggling Browns. He has a Super Bowl winning vision for this Cleveland team, regardless of how many high-profile players are on the roster, he knows it’s the small things that lead a team to victory.
“Everybody sees how much talent we have, what kind of team we could be. Everybody’s going to be talking about Baker, but people don’t understand the work we have to put in in order to be successful. As a team we are just going to take it one week at a time, one game at a time. Most importantly, win our division, get in the playoffs and try our best to fight to get to the Super Bowl.”
What stands in the way of Cleveland’s success isn’t another team, according to Wilson, only themselves. The idea of supporting each other and putting the team first seems to be the overall theme for the 2020 Browns squad.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
