Wilson attended Amite County High School in Liberty, Mississippi, where he was a teammate of Gabe Jackson. He accepted a scholarship from Alcorn State University, but transferred to Jones County Junior College after his freshman season. As a sophomore safety he was named the Region 23 Defensive MVP, after ranking fourth in the nation with 122 tackles, 2 sacks and 2 passes defensed. As a sophomore, he registered 119 tackles. At the end of the year, he transferred to the University of Minnesota. As a junior, he was converted to linebacker, finishing with 12 starts, 78 tackles, one sack and 5.5 tackles-for-loss. In his last year he registered 12 starts, 119 tackles, 4 sacks, 10.5 tackles-for-loss, one interception, 3 passes defensed, one forced fumble and 2 fumble recoveries.
The Dallas Cowboys selected Wilson in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He was the 13th linebacker selected in 2015. On May 28, 2015, the Dallas Cowboys signed Wilson to a four-year, $2.74 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $466,315. As Anthony Hitchens did before him, the coaches decided to make Wilson learn all three linebacker positions in training camp. On special teams he tied for the team lead in tackles with Kyle Wilber and Jeff Heath. As a rookie he registered a total of 16 tackles. Against the New Orleans Saints, he saw extensive play and performed well replacing an injured Andrew Gachkar. He played the season mostly on special teams and finished tied for the team lead with 9 tackles on special teams. In 2016, he suffered a serious offseason injury on his right eye while playing paintball, missing the first two weeks of training camp after being placed on the non-football injury list. In week 6 of the season, he passed Kyle Wilber on the depth chart and went on to start 5 games at strong-side linebacker. He posted 35 tackles. In 2017, he began the season as the backup at strongside linebacker, before passing Wilber on the depth chart in the seventh game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He tallied 39 tackles, 5 quarterback hurries, one sack and 7 special teams tackles.
On March 14, 2019, Wilson signed a two-year, $5.75 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. Wilson won Super Bowl LIV with the Chiefs after they defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-20.
