Giants work out OL Jack Wilson, the tallest player in WSU football history

The New York Giants worked out former Washington State offensive lineman Jack Wilson on Thursday, per reports.

That, in and of itself, isn’t terribly exciting. Teams are always working out young players to update their files, keep tabs on them in case of a rainy day, or perhaps find a hidden gem. However Jack Wilson is notable not so much for his experience as an offensive lineman, but rather for his exceptional size.

Wilson carries the distinction of being the tallest player Washington State Cougars program history. A two-sport athlete, Wilson measures 6-foot-11, 338 pounds. And while his height isn’t quite out of the ordinary for a basketball player, it’s incredibly uncommon for a football player.

To put it in perspective, Joe Alt is 6-foot-8 and Nate Solder stands 6-foot-9 and both are uncommonly tall for football players.

And in fact, Wilson got his start as a basketball player and has played for Oregon State, Idaho, Washington State, and finally Minnesota. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he’s a center on the court.

Wilson was a football walk-on at Minnesota and primarily played special teams, blocking for field goals and point-after attempts. He only has two starts on the offensive line to his credit, both coming in 2022, playing left tackle against Colorado State and right tackle against Stanford. Wilson then transferred from Washington State to Minnesota as a graduate student to continue his basketball career as well as further his education.

Tape on Wilson is, predictably, (very) hard to come by. He’s obviously unpolished as a tackle, and has to work very hard to keep his pads down. His footwork is also something of a mess, as are his hands. That said, his sheer athleticism also shines through as he’s able to get in position and re-anchor despite initially losing a rep, or cover a lot of ground to block at the second level.

Wilson is obviously a bright guy as well as a talented athlete. He’s been an honors student, has a degree in social science, and a masters in exercise science. He’s also said that he wants to get into coaching after his playing career is over.

Perhaps this is the work of Assistant GM Brandon Brown. Shortly after the Giants hired him away from the Philadelphia Eagles, Brown spoke of being progressive in finding and developing talented athletes.

He said, “Whether it’s involving the scheme, whether it’s involving the player usage, whether it’s involving where to find players. That’s a process I put into practice in Philadelphia, was football players come from every walk of life.

“That was shown through finding players in Canada, finding players who played rugby, finding players that came from small schools. It doesn’t matter. If you have the developmental mindset and the developmental physical traits, and you have the aptitude to learn, then it’s our job in terms of personnel and coaching and player development to get you onto the right onboarding process and that maximizes you as you’re going on in your role and eventually on game day.”

Maybe the Giants want to see if, like Jordan Mailata, Wilson can take an uncommon skill set and develop into a successful lineman. Or maybe they want to see if the former center is comfortable going up over the rim in the endzone in the NFL.