Roman Wilson
Roman Wilson
Roman Wilson has been one of the most discussed players during the first couple of weeks of training camp in Latrobe. The young receiver couldn’t find a way to break out during his first two years as a Pittsburgh Steeler, but has gotten off to a blazing start under a new coaching staff.
He took his first game snaps of the season on Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers. Wilson received one target, which he caught for a seven-yard gain. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger thought Wilson would make a larger impact.
“I would like to figure out why, in watching this game, Roman Wilson has had such a big camp. Wasn’t quite as involved. Wasn’t thrown to, maybe. And that may be ’cause that’s Aaron that’s been throwing to him,” Roethlisberger said Friday on his Footbahlin podcast.
Roethlisberger expects a bigger role for Wilson moving forward.
“I would think so. I mean, from what you hear from camp, how do you not?” Roethlisberger asked.
Wilson simply didn’t have many chances to make an impact aside from his lone target. On that play, he made a nice catch along the sideline before falling out of bounds.
Nice grab Roman Wilson #Steelers pic.twitter.com/03TIC3Hvcm
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) August 13, 2026
He had a quiet showing, and one could argue that Germie Bernard’s impressive debut makes Wilson’s situation a little concerning. Rudolph targeted Bernard early and often. Bernard received five targets, and he caught four of them for 51 yards.
However, as Roethlisberger mentions, a lot of Wilson’s reps in training camp have come with Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball. Rodgers seems to have much more of a connection with Wilson this season, and that’s been evident during practice. But each quarterback had a player they seemed to trust above all else on Thursday. Will Howard frequently looked for Robert Tonyan, and Drew Allar connected with Kaden Wetjen early. Bernard was Rudolph’s security blanket.
Preseason action also isn’t always a telltale sign of how a player’s season will go. Wilson had some very nice games in the preseason last year, but didn’t do anything consistent in the regular season. The coaching staff could have designed this week’s game plan to get Bernard involved. Regardless, Wilson can’t be written off after one preseason game.
However, Roethlisberger’s not wrong to hope for a bigger role for Roman Wilson moving forward. Maybe he will get one against New York next week, especially if that game includes Rodgers. But Wilson still has two more preseason games to get revved up before the regular season begins.