Pittsburgh Steelers Training Camp Day 1
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Roman Wilson (10) participates in drills at training camp at Saint Vincent College on Saturday, July 26, 2025 in Latrobe. Barry Reeger | Special to PennLive PennLive
LATROBE, Pa. -- The Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver room is DK Metcalf, Calvin Austin III, and a lot of questions. None of those questions loom bigger than second-year Michigan product Roman Wilson.
Wilson started off training camp slowly, but has ratcheted up the heat over the last three days leading up to the team’s first preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
That will be Wilson’s first extended in-game action, as he played just five snaps all of last season and missed the entire preseason with a high ankle sprain.
Before this week, it looked like a quiet and disappointing camp for Wilson. With Austin hurt and Metcalf getting periodic off days, Wilson has acted as the top wide receiver a few times.
He also sent a public message this week that he wanted to be one of Aaron Rodgers’ guys. That came after the quarterback publicly lauded Wilson’s talent, but wanted him to get out of his head.
“I got to get Roman out of his head a little bit. I think he’s such a good kid. He cares so much about whether it’s my approval or he’s doing it right. He’s just got to trust himself because he’s so damn talented. The more that he can play free and not think out there, the better he’s going to play. The more he can just trust what he’s got and just go out and react, the better he’s going to play,” Rodgers said.
Over the last three days of training camp, Rodgers and Wilson have started to strengthen their connection. Wilson made multiple tough grabs over the middle, one of the traits the Steelers loved when they were scouting him out of Michigan.
Wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni, much like Rodgers, wants to see Wilson loosen up. In media sessions, Wilson can seem clammed up, and stone faced. It is hard to get a smile out of the stoic Wilson.
That is not just a media facade, though, Azzanni says. Even Mike Tomlin never gets the true emotions of what Wilson is thinking. What the media sees is exactly what the team sees. Wilson might be a bit too tense for his own good.
“I just need to loosen him up a little bit. I tried, like, seven different tricks, and he wouldn’t buy it. I was trying to make him laugh, trying to do this, and he’s like, I got him to smile once. I’m like, ugh. He’s pretty guarded,” Azzanni said.
Tomlin takes Wilson’s approach as ‘very-focused’ and ‘appropriate’ given just how big of a training camp this is for him, but he might be overthinking it.
That was until this week, where a looser, freer version of Wilson came about. Some smiles started to be shown, and Wilson’s harbored personality started to show through. It came with a difference on the field, where Wilson’s connection with Rodgers started to click.
In the seven shots period of Wednesday, Rodgers sent a sidearmed pass Wilson’s way, and he hit the deck to make an outstanding touchdown grab.
Those types of plays will get Wilson more trust from his quarterback.
“Just being open deep down the field, intermediate down the field, low crosses, things like that. Just trying to be open at all times,” Wilson said. “I want (Rodgers) to want to use me. I want to be that guy.”
Austin has a vice grip on the starting slot wide receiver role. Metcalf is the team’s X-receiver. However, the Z-receiver job is wide open, and that is where Wilson has primarily worked during training camp.
It is hugely different from what he did at Michigan, where he was used in the slot and the team motioned him to get him free on crossers.
Wilson feels comfortable out there. Tomlin even gave Wilson some credit for having that flexibility to play inside or outside.
“He’s shown really good adaptability and position flex. We are still very much early in the process, but I like some of the things I’ve seen for him,” Tomlin said.
Yet, to play outside consistently at Wilson’s size, 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, he has to beat press coverage. That was one of the more concerning things on tape. Azzanni states that was one issue he had when watching Wilson at Michigan, but there were a whole lot of other positives.
“The thing that showed up in Michigan is he didn’t drop balls. He made catches. So there was no drop rate. He blocked, and he was fast. Those are the things that stuck out of the Michigan film,” Azzanni said.
Tomlin may have lit a fire under Wilson when he listed him behind Robert Woods and Scotty Miller on the first depth chart despite Wilson running ahead of both players throughout training camp.
That was what jumpstarted a strong week, with most of his snaps coming from the outside. It might just be the fruition of what Wilson has shown to Azzanni, however, who says his speed made him an intriguing player to move outside, and he is starting to get off press better, too.
“He’s crafty. He’s got some speed, and he’s starting to use his hands well. His releases are improving. He didn’t have to do that in Michigan,” Azzanni admitted. “He did a good job of moving around and punching him and motioning him to get him free. So he never really had to go against press coverage. Beating press is big for him. He’s starting to make strides there.”
Despite being a bit on the smaller side, Wilson has an aptitude for blocking. The wide receiver says he is ‘fearless’ and the physicality was instilled at him early during his tenure at Michigan.
In order to play outside, Azzanni needs to see Wilson dig out safeties, and he has been given that opportunity every day at Steelers practice with DeShon Elliott and Chuck Clark roaming the box.
“if you play outside here, too, you’ve got to be able to go in and block those safeties, and we have Chuck Clark and DeShon Elliott. Those guys, they’re coming downhill. So we’ll find out real fast if Roman can play out there,” Azzzanni said, with a grin wide on his face.
Wilson admitted he has worked a lot on beating press coverage. It is something Azzanni circled for him. Recently, the team adjusted Wilson’s stance at the line of scrimmage to maximize his explosiveness.
Initially, Azzanni explains, Wilson was too wide his stance and that would affect his ability to run routes. In that vein, his footwork would never be clean enough to snap back on breaks like he should.
Wilson feels more comfortable in his body this year, too. He bulked up by about ten pounds after the NFL Combine last season trying to get stockier. Azzanni admits that did not end up well for Wilson, but he leaned back out to his natural playing weight this year.
“He’s got some bulk to him, considering. And then he tried to bulk up from the combine and came to OTAs and didn’t look so good. So he dropped his weight for this year and kind of got back leaner, and he feels a lot better. He’s moving better,” Azzanni said.
Adding into the pressure for Wilson is the fact that Jonnu Smith is now in the building, meaning the Steelers will play a lot of 12 personnel (2 tight end) and 13 personnel (3 tight end) sets, taking a wide receiver off the field.
Can Wilson showcase his blocking skills to be the second wide receiver in those sets? The Steelers have utilized him in that way so far, but Azzanni warns the receivers are recognize the urgency for playing time.
“We’re going to find out if they’ll put their face in that run game. But they all understand what it is. They know. They’re not dumb. They see the roster,” Azzanni said. They know the Jonnus and the Darnells and the (Pat Freiermuths). They understand the deal. And if they want to get on the field more than that, then they’re going to have to prove it out here."
Wilson’s role has evolved not only from an outside-inside versatile wide receiver, but being thrown into the kick returner competition as well as the gunner role. The Steelers have prepared for all levels of Wilson’s involvement on the team.
Wilson still has to prove he can be versatile and provide special teams value if he is not a starting wide receiver. Tomlin says this week against the Jaguars, they want to see his offensive talent shine through, but next week, special teams could be the focus.
“I just expect to see similar things that I’ve seen out here. Continual get better and playmaking. He’s highly conditioned. I expect that to show in his play. Really focused on his offensive contributions this week,” Tomlin said. “Next week, we’re going to infuse some more special teams than we tentatively have planned this week, because we just think it’s appropriate. He’s a young guy, sometimes you’re thoughtful about what you ask them to master in this process in an effort to see the best of them in certain components of play.”
Wilson will face starting Jaguars cornerback Tyson Campbell, known for his ability to press at the line of scrimmage and test wide receivers with his physicality. In that regard, this could be the perfect opportunity for Wilson to showcase his growth in a problem area.
With Metcalf and Austin sidelined, Wilson is the de facto top wide receiver on the team, and Mason Rudolph will look to feed much of the offense through him.
This could be the start of Wilson’s chance to prove he could be part of the team’s wide receiver solution, and become much more than just an intriguing question mark.
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