Roman Wilson was expected to shoulder some of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ receiving workload as a third-round draft choice last year. Injuries have been blamed for that not panning out, but there might be another reason.
As a rookie, Wilson played just five snaps of in-game action. He didn’t appear on the stat sheet and was placed on injured reserve with a second ailment in late October. Despite being designated to return before the Steelers’ regular-season finale, he remained on the list the rest of the way.
Steelers.com’s Bob Labriola gave more insight into the situation on Tuesday.
“Working one’s ‘tail off and doing good in practice’ is miles away from being ready to contribute down the stretch of an NFL regular season after being injured on the sixth snap of the first practice in pads of training camp and then not playing a snap in the preseason,” Labriola wrote in a mailbag. “My understanding of the situation is that at no point was there a legitimate level of confidence that Roman Wilson understood the offense and his responsibilities within it to the degree that would allow him to execute it at game speed during the stretch run.”
What were the Steelers hoping to get out of Roman Wilson?
Roman Wilson had a standout collegiate career at Michigan. He had 1,707 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns on 107 grabs for the Wolverines. He dropped just one pass on that level, a consistent nature the Steelers were hoping to benefit from.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Roman Wilson at practice on Oct. 17, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
“He’s got versatility,” Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said after the team drafted Wilson. “When you get into some of the passing situations on later downs, he’s got inside-out flexibility. You like his instincts that he could play inside on obvious passing situations.”
The Steelers could opt to add to their receiving corps early in April’s NFL Draft, which could cloud Wilson’s role going forward.
