Exit Meeting: WR Roman Wilson
Experience: 2 Years
If Roman Wilson is to have a place on the Steelers’ roster next season, he will have to convince a new set of coaches. While GM Omar Khan renewed his stated belief in the young wide receiver, we’ve seen that words don’t mean much. His teammates and coaches sang his praises last season, yet he finished the year on the bench.
A third-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Roman Wilson has always said the right things. He certainly seems to have the right demeanor, yet he has made little headway in two years. As a rookie, a training camp injury put him behind, and he never caught up. The injury lingered into the regular season, and eventually, once he finally caught up enough to dress, he went down with a new ailment.
Wilson spent the rest of the year on the Reserve/Injured List, though he practiced at the end of the season. The Steelers hoped that would help jumpstart his offseason, and it seemed it might have. Beat writers had consistently positive reports early on, but once training camp hit, he struggled to make an impact initially. Slowly, gradually, he started to connect, and he followed that up with a strong season.
Still, Calvin Austin III, despite his own injury, played ahead of Roman Wilson initially. Then Austin missed time in the regular season, and Wilson slowly started to emerge. In a six-game span, he caught 11 of 15 targets for 159 yards and 2 touchdowns. He seemed, finally, to be on his way.
Then suddenly, he wasn’t. Soon after, the Steelers acquired Adam Thielen and he and Marquez Valdes-Scantling displaced Wilson and Austin as the top receivers behind DK Metcalf. Wilson spent most of the rest of the season on the bench, dressing only due to injury. And even then, he didn’t see any more targets.
Speculation points to dissatisfaction on Aaron Rodgers’ part for Wilson’s playing time. If Rodgers returns, that could be a problem, but he’ll want to work with the young receiver. But with a new coaching staff, including a new position coach, perhaps the Steelers can finally untap whatever they feel has been lacking from him.
The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves licking their wounds after yetanother early playoff exit. This is a repeated pattern for the organization, but with major change coming. As the Steelers conduct their own exit meetings, we willgo down the roster conducting our own. Who should stay, and who should go, and how? Who should expect a bigger role next season, and who might deserve a new contract? The resignation of Mike Tomlin makes those questions much more difficult to answer, but much more important. We’ll explore those questions and more in these articles, part of an annual series.
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