The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted WR Roman Wilson in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, and they got one game and just five snaps out of him as a rookie. An ankle injury forced his NFL debut to wait until Week 6, and he tweaked his hamstring in practice, which ultimately ended his season. While Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Wilson was healthy by the end of the year, he wasn’t quite ready to get on the “moving train.” But Tomlin added the Steelers have high expectations for Wilson this season
“He was healthy, but healthy and football readiness are two different things,” Tomlin said. “He was working extremely hard in practice, but a real avenue never presented itself due to the misfortune of others or what have you to be able to contribute. But we’re expecting really good things for him in his second year. I think that’s a reasonable expectation. I think from time to time, guys get faced with injury and it derails their start but by no means do we feel like it’s gonna define his career,” Tomlin said during the AFC Coaches Breakfast [at the NFL League Meetings via Steelers.com](https://www.steelers.com/video/watch-1-on-1-with-tomlin-x9859).
Tomlin said the Steelers expect the same out of Wilson as they got out of Calvin Austin III after his rookie year was wiped out due to injury.
Wilson [did return to practice toward the end of last season](https://steelersdepot.com/2024/12/roman-wilson-cole-holcomb-and-logan-lee-return-to-practice-remain-on-injured-lists/), but he was never activated off IR and ended his rookie season with barely any time spent on the field. Still, his one game was more than Austin played as a rookie, and while he had just 17 receptions in his second season, he caught 36 balls for 548 yards and four scores last year and looks to be an ascending piece of Pittsburgh’s offense.
Wilson’s fit will be interesting because he primarily played in the slot at Michigan. Right now, Austin looks poised to be Pittsburgh’s starting slot receiver with DK Metcalf and George Pickens on the outside, so there may not be a ton of opportunity for Wilson to make an impact. But if the team believes that he can be a significant contributor this season, then they’ll find a way to make sure he gets on the field.
One of the biggest problems for Roman Wilson last season was that he missed the majority of training camp after suffering an ankle injury. For a rookie, not being able to go through the training camp process makes it much harder to get ready to go, even after getting healthy. If Wilson can enter the offseason program and training camp at full health, which he should barring any setbacks, he’ll have a chance to prove that he can be a weapon for the Steelers and live up to his draft billing.