Roman Wilson might be the best garbage-time player ever. He has two late touchdowns now, both in games that were already out of reach against Green Bay and Los Angeles. However, with the way his career started, that’s really the only way he’s been able to get his foot in the door at the NFL level.
Expectations were high for Wilson, drafted in the third round back in 2024. Unfortunately, a training camp injury forced him to miss almost all of his rookie season. And during that time, his teammate Calvin Austin III took a major step forward, racking up over 500 yards and leading all Steelers’ receivers in touchdowns.
That put Wilson even more behind the eight ball heading into his sophomore season, a year in which Austin got the first chance at being the WR2. The Steelers didn’t add any meaningful depth at receiver, but Wilson’s path to targets was still going to be difficult. Even after a strong preseason, Austin and the entire tight end room got their chances before him.
However, he’s really started to come on in recent weeks. And considering how long it took him to get started, he’s progressing at a quick rate. One of the most impressive things is the feel he already seems to have for this level of the game.
This is probably the most impressive play of Roman Wilson’s young career. It’s his longest reception, at 45 yards, in his most productive game of his career. But aside from the numbers, this is just great anticipation from Wilson. He already has a step on his defender down the field, but with Aaron Rodgers scrambling, he makes a perfect adjustment to get to the sideline and make this catch. Having this type of feel with a Hall of Fame quarterback is impressive. Especially considering this was only the fifth target Wilson ever had in his career.
Later in that game, Wilson caught this touchdown pass, the first of his career. Here, we also see some good anticipation.
Everything about this play is impressive. He beats his man on the route, and if the ball is thrown on the break, it’s probably a touchdown. But Rodgers has to wait, and Wilson once again has a good feeling for what his quarterback is going to do. He finds an open area, drifts into it, then makes a good contested catch. Speaking after Sunday’s loss, Rodgers named this play as the best one Wilson has made yet.
He’s also very solid after the catch. Once Wilson gets the ball in his hands, he’s not scared of making the extra effort, even if just for a couple yards.
This route isn’t anything special, but what Wilson does after the catch is. At the 17-yard line, three defenders all have him closed off. Yet, he hurdles two, and manages to rack up an extra six yards, all the way down to the 11.
He did something similar against Los Angeles last week, for his second career touchdown.
This is actually the same exact concept as the clip before it. The slot runs to the flat, and Wilson slides underneath to take advantage of the space in the middle. Once he gets the ball, he’s impossible to stop with open field in front of him. He will need to reel his aggressiveness in sometimes, as he made a crucial mistake against the Colts when trying to do too much with the ball. But the potential is certainly there. And you’d rather fault someone for trying to make a play than vice versa.
When the Steelers drafted Roman Wilson, they knew they were getting a good route runner, who could win with his strong hands, even though he doesn’t have the biggest frame. This season, we’ve seen both traits develop. His route-running is crisp, and he’s not afraid to catch passes in traffic. However, his ability to make defenses pay after the catch has been quite pleasant to see.
With the makeup of the current Steelers’ offense, his skill set is badly needed. There isn’t a ton of explosiveness on the unit, but that’s something Wilson has been able to add. You see the underneath rub routes the Steelers like to use him in, because they know he’s going to rack up yards over the middle after the catch. In a world where Rodgers uses his tight ends as much as he currently does, you need this sort of explosiveness out wide.
As the Steelers’ future WR2 has to be, he can be a great compliment to DK Metcalf as well. Metcalf has his own level of explosiveness, but his is much more straight-line speed. He’s not especially agile, and although he’s a good route runner at times, he isn’t the most refined. Metcalf’s also struggling with some drops this year, while Wilson has been reliable, catching 11 of his 15 targets.
Right now, the WR2 spot is open for the taking. Austin had his chances to latch onto it, but he’s been too inconsistent. He also had a crucial drop that led to an interception last week, which could erode some trust with Rodgers.
But ever since that Packers game, the chances have been there for Wilson. 10 of his 15 targets have come in the last three matchups. And he’s earning plenty of praise from Rodgers. Speaking this week, Arthur Smith also mentioned that more playing time could be in his future. Austin has been good at times, and can still serve as a WR3. But for now, it seems like Roman Wilson is making a charge for the WR2 role.
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