Sad News: check out the names of the Las Vegas Raiders players who died in a plane crash today after…
Tyree Wilson tried to get off on the right foot after being taken with the seventh overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. But the Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher simply couldn’t because of … well… his right foot.
His offseason wasn’t like the other prospects the Raiders drafted as Wilson was recovering from breaking that foot in his final season at Texas Tech. The injury occurred when Wilson planted the foot as he tried to get around the edge in the Red Raiders Nov. 12, 2022 matchup with Kansas. That was his final play of his collegiate career and the previous regime in Las Vegas weren’t deterred and made Wilson the No. 7 pick.
His rookie season, however, was pure catch up as he missed large swaths of team activities in the offseason due to an ailment that required surgeries to fix. At the time the Raiders selected Wilson, the team had Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones as the starters at edge rusher. Thus, a redshirt-type season from Wilson was viable at the time. But Jones was inactive for the first two games of the season before being released in late September, accelerating the need for Wilson to get on the field as he along with Malcolm Koonce and Isaac Rochelle were the only other defensive ends on the roster at that point.
With stunted progression, Wilson showcased a notoriously slow get off in comparison to Crosby and Koonce and the tardiness dampened his effectiveness. Overall, Wilson played in all 17 games (no starts) compiling 29 total tackles and 3.5 sacks in his first season with the Raiders. Not a glamorous stat line for someone taken in the Top 10 of the draft.
