#8 Dillon Wilson
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Position: Kicker Previous College: None Projection: Third-String Status: On Scholarship |
Dillon Scott Wilson (b. May 21, 1993) is a talented place-kicker who will battle for regular kicking duties in 2013.
He did not see any game action as a member of the scout team in 2012 and redshirted in 2011. But at this time last year, I thought Wilson would be the kicker of the future for sure. We had no other scholarship kickers on the roster.
Since then, it seems fellow redshirt sophomore Jack Cantele has passed him up for field goals and extra points, but Wilson seems to be battling Matthew McCrane and Ian Patterson for kickoff duties.
He averaged 58 yards per kickoff for the Purple team in the spring game, although that was slightly less than either Cantele or McCrane averaged, and booted one kickoff 55 yards for the White team.
Wilson was 6 of 8 on field goals with a long of 44 during his senior year in high school. He made 7 of 7, with a long of 47, as a junior. He also was 37-7 in four seasons of wrestling, should we ever be in need of those skills.
Wilson also was named to PrepStar magazine's All-Midlands Region team. He was a two-time Special Teams Player of the Week honoree and was the school's Special Teams Player of the Year in 2009.
ESPN rated him the No. 29 kicker in his class. Rivals and Scout had him in the top 20. Here's a fun quote from him:
I promised Coach Snyder that when I come, all of my kickoffs are going in the endzone, and I don't break my promises. On my kickoffs, I've been hitting them about 75 yards consistently with an average of 3.90 hang time, about five yards deep in the endzone at the college level. I hit a 60-yard field goal off the ground at UTEP at their camp and I've been hitting 50-yarders consistently.