Tag: Titans draft picks

Former Georgia offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson signed with the Bulldogs as a five-star recruit in the class of 2017.

Hailing from Brooklyn, New York and playing high school ball at Poly Prep, Wilson had offers from just about every school in the country.

At 6-foot-7, 350 pounds, Wilson was rated as the nation’s No. 16 overall player in the 2017 recruiting class. Out of the 18 votes on Wilson’s 247 recruiting profile, 16 analysts actually predicted him to play for Michigan.

But Wilson chose the warmer weather, the better competition and the overall more enjoyable lifestyle of attending The University of Georgia, where after three seasons he became a first round draft selection of the Tennessee Titans.

[lawrence-related id=28260]

Wilson remotely sat down with the voice of the Tennessee Titans, Mike Keith, to discuss a plethora of things, including why he chose to play for Georgia instead of staying up north.

“I just felt the SEC is a great place to play football. You have the best competition out there,” Wilson said. “The SEC has a lot of talent every week and you have NFL level coaches that prepare you for the next level and have been in the league and been through those systems and understand what’s required of you at the next level.

And their success rate, just with their players and helping them succeed and get to the next level, not only as football players but as men. It’s definitely what I looked at in my decision to go down there and play for Georgia.”

On what he improved most on during his time at Georgia, Wilson said it was the technique that Sam Pittman and the UGA coaching staff helped him to develop.

“I came from a private school in Brooklyn, New York, a really small school. And we had great coaches for that environment but they didn’t necessarily coach the technique I was learning in college. Picking up that technique was probably the biggest transition for me.”

Get the story behind the nickname Panda 🐼

First round pick @_LayZay_ chats with Mike Keith. pic.twitter.com/z4tI0ch8Ar

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) April 29, 2020

And here’s Wilson’s tweet announcing his commitment to the G.

Game Over pic.twitter.com/REwzglv1WS

— Isaiah “Panda” Wilson (@_LayZay_) December 16, 2016

Former Georgia offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson signed with the Bulldogs as a five-star recruit in the class of 2017 out of Brooklyn, New York.

Fast forward three years later, and the 6-foot-7, 350 pound tackle is a first round selection of the Tennessee Titans at the 2020 NFL Draft.

A few days after being drafted, Wilson remotely sat down with the voice of the Tennessee Titans, Mike Keith, to partake in a virtual interview, really diving into Wilson as a person and his journey to becoming a first round draft pick.

One of the questions that Keith asked Wilson was where he got his nickname from. As seen on his social media, Wilson goes by the nickname “Panda.”

The story behind that can be viewed below, starting at the 7:35 mark.

Wilson stated that it was actually running back prospect (at the time) DeeJay Dallas who gave him that nickname during a high school training camp.

“I was sitting down Indian style, because I’m a big guy and it stretches out my hips…

He walked over, and he was like, ‘you’re just a big panda.’ It stuck. Everyone kind of went with it.”

Dallas was a 4-star running back recruit out of Glynn Academy in Brunswick, Georgia in the class  of 2017. If you remember, Dallas actually committed to Georgia while Mark Richt was still head coach. He de-committed in December of 2015 following Richt’s firing, but followed Richt to Miami. Dallas was recently picked in the fourth round of the 2020 draft by Seattle.

I recommend watching the video in full, as Wilson discusses a lot more than where his nickname came from.

Get the story behind the nickname Panda 🐼

First round pick @_LayZay_ chats with Mike Keith. pic.twitter.com/z4tI0ch8Ar

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) April 29, 2020