While North Carolina college football campuses are home to a number of standout defensive players, there is one obvious choice for the Most Outstanding Defensive Player in the Old North State this season:
We dare anyone to disagree with NC State’s Payton Wilson as our pick for the 2023 honor.
The graduate student linebacker closes his Wolfpack career as one of the best to ever put on an NC State uniform. At last count, Wilson appears on 10(!) major All-America lists — each of them as a first-teamer.
He won ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors at the end of the regular season, then went on to collect the Butkus Award (top linebacker in the nation) and the Bednarik Award (top defensive player in the nation). Earlier this month, Raleigh mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin proclaimed Dec. 19 to be Payton Wilson Day in the Capital City. Yeah, no one is going to top all of that this season.
NC Football News has selected one Most Outstanding Defensive Player from each NCAA division of play. Wilson, our FBS pick, is joined on our Most Outstanding Defensive Player list by Gardner-Webb’s Ty French (FCS), Wingate’s Marquise Fleming (Division II) and North Carolina Wesleyan’s Ronechie Carter (Division III).
Here is more information on each of the four MOPs.
—> READ MORE: Our “Best In State” Outstanding Defense honor roll
—> READ MORE: NC Football News announces Most Outstanding Special Teams Players
Payton Wilson | NC State | LB | FBS
The 6-4, 242-pounder endeared himself to Wolfpack fans right from the start after flipping to NC State from North Carolina coming out of Orange High School in Hillsborough.
He played with a wide open motor on every snap and overcame a series of injuries during his career to compete in 46 total games. He had the chance to declare for the NFL draft this past spring but opted to run with the Pack one last time. What a year it was.
Wilson recorded 69 solo tackles and 138 total stops during 12 games this season. He averaged 11.5 tackles per game. He also made 17.5 tackles for loss, had six sacks, picked off three passes, forced a fumble and recovered two fumbles. He returned an interception 15 yards for a touchdown against Clemson, helping continue a mid-season rally that resulted in a 9-3 finish.
Wilson’s first-team All-America awards came from CBS Sports, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, The Athletic, The Sporting News, Associated Press, College Football Network, Pro Football Focus (PFF), the Walter Camp Football Foundation and the Football Writers Association of America.
Alas, NC State will be without Wilson when it takes on Kansas State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando on Dec. 28. Wilson opted out of the game to prepare the upcoming NFL Draft. It’s hard to blame him for that decision though we all would have loved to see him one more time in a Wolfpack uniform.
“Playing football at NC State and training and competing with my teammates has been an experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life,” Wilson wrote on social media recently. “Now it’s time for me to start to prepare for the next chapter of my football career. After discussions with my family and advisors, I have made the difficult decision to opt out of playing in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. I will be there on Dec. 28 to support my brothers and hopefully bring home a victory.”
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Ty French | FCS | Gardner-Webb | Defensive End
The 6-3, 230-pound senior from Moultrie, Ga. (Colquitt County HS), earned All-America recognition from Stats Perform and the Associated Press, and first-team status on the Big South/OVC Football Association all-conference team. He has been named a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the FCS national defensive player of the year. That honor will be handed out Jan. 6.
French lived in opposing backfields much of the season for the Big South/OVC champs. He posted a team-high 21.5 tackles for loss (tied for third-most in NCAA FCS) and 9.5 sacks (T-17th). He was responsible for 18 quarterback hurries and forced three fumbles. French finished with 63 total tackles, including 36 unassisted hits.
This was the fourth year in a row French has earned first-team all-conference. He set new school records for career sacks (30.5) and career tackles-for-loss (58).
Though Gardner-Webb lost its playoff opener at Mercer, French did his part, earning three sacks and four tackles-for-loss.
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Marquise Fleming | D2 | Wingate | Defensive End
The redshirt junior from Charlotte (Olympic HS) staked his claim as one of the top defensive players in all of Division II, picking up first-team All-America honors from The Associated Press, the D2 Conference Commissioner’s Association and the American Football Coaches Association.
Fleming helped Wingate reach the eight-win mark for the seventh year in a row with fierce production from the edge. He led Division II with 14 sacks and was fifth with 22.5 tackles for loss — averaging two per game. He had 63 tackles in all, forcing three fumbles and recording seven quarterback hurries.
Other post-season honors for Fleming included South Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and D2CCA Southeast Region Defensive Player of the Year. He was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Award and was national runner-up for the Gene Upshaw Award.
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Ronechie Carter | D3 | NC Wesleyan | Defensive Back
The graduate student from Fayetteville (Mallard Creek HS) collected first-team All-USA South Athletic Conference honors after helping the Battling Bishops stay in league contention into November. NCWU won four in a row in October, including triumphs over instate rivals Greensboro and Methodist.
Carter finished with 77 total tackles, including 44 solo stops. He had a monster game in the season finale against USA South stalwart Huntingdon, posting 18 tackles — 11 solos. Carter had 12 tackles against Maryville and 11 each against Bridgewater and Belhaven.
Carter recorded an 18-yard sack against Maryville. He forced three fumbles on the season and recovered two. He also picked off a pass.
NOTE: We’ll post our 2023 Top Defensive Players honor roll in another story.
—> READ MORE: NC Football News announces Most Outstanding Special Teams Players
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