Kyle Wilber (born April 26, 1989) is a former American football linebacker and coach who is the special teams quality control coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at Wake Forest.
Early years
Wilber attended Apopka High School where he was a Class 6A all-state third-team selection as a senior, after finishing with 55 tackles (10 for loss), four sacks and a fumble recovery. He also practiced wrestling and weightlifting.
At Wake Forest University he was a 4-3 defensive end until his sophomore season, when there was a change in the defensive scheme and he was moved to the 3-4 Will linebacker position, appearing at that position in 5 games with 18 tackles, one sack, one fumble recovery and a blocked field goal.
As a junior, he began the season at defensive end before being moved back to linebacker, posting 65 tackles (third on the team), 6 sacks (led the team), 14.5 tackles for loss (led the team), one quarterback pressure, 4 passes defensed and 2 blocked kicks.
As a senior, he recorded 70 tackles (second on the team), 3.5 sacks (tied for the team lead), 11.5 tackles for loss, 3 quarterback pressures, 3 forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one pass defensed and one blocked kick. He finished his college career with 13.5 sacks (sixth in school history), 35.5 tackles (ninth in school history) for loss, 195 tackles (thirteenth in school history), 6 forced fumbles and 4 blocked kicks in 43 career games.
Professional career
Wilber was one of 38 collegiate linebackers to attend the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. He completed all of the combine drills and had a mediocre performance. Wilber finished tenth among linebackers in the bench press, 14th in the short shuttle, and seventh in the three-cone drill.
On March 19, 2012, Wilber attended Wake Forest's pro day, along with Chris Givens, Joe Looney, and six other prospects. He opted to run all of the combine drills again, but skipped the bench. Wilber was able to lower his times in the 40-yard dash (4.64s), 20-yard dash (2.65s), and 10-yard dash (1.65s). At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Wilber was projected to be a third or fourth round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the 12th best outside linebacker prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.
Dallas Cowboys
Wilber was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round (135th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. He was the 13th linebacker selected in 2012.
2012
On June 14, the Dallas Cowboys signed Wilber to a four-year, $2.53 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $439,220.
Throughout training camp, Wilber competed for a backup outside linebacker role against Victor Butler, Adrian Hamilton, and Alex Albright. He also received work at defensive end, but missed the majority of offseason practices after breaking his right index finger. Wilber was making progress and receiving second-team reps at outside linebacker, but unfortunately suffered a broken thumb in the Cowboys' third preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. He was expected to miss three to four weeks with the injury. Head coach Jason Garrett named Wilber the fifth outside linebacker on the depth chart to start the regular season, behind DeMarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer, Victor Butler, and Alex Albright.
He made his professional regular season debut on special teams in the Dallas Cowboys' season-opening 19–3 victory against the New York Giants. During a Week 2 matchup at the Denver Broncos, Wilber recorded two solo tackles in the Cowboys' 42–17 loss. On November 30, he tied his season-high of two solo tackles during a 38–14 win over the Washington Redskins. He finished with six special teams tackles and ten total tackles (seven solo) in 16 games. Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was fired at the end of the season.
2013
Wilber was moved to defensive end in training camp after the Cowboys hired Monte Kiffin as their defensive coordinator and changed the base defense to a 4–3 alignment. Throughout training camp, he competed for the job as backup defensive end against Monte Taylor, Ikponmwosa Igbinosun, and DeVonte Holloman. Wilber gained 15 pounds to his frame during the off-season and was named the backup right defensive end behind DeMarcus Ware to start the regular season.