Eat your heart out, Houston Texans. After drafting the Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year in 2023, one analyst believes the Pittsburgh Steelers will follow in their footsteps come 2024. In post-draft coverage on NFL Network’s NFL Total Access, Rhett Lewis stepped to the plate, pointed to the fence, and called his shot. WR Roman Wilson will win Offensive Rookie of the Year. ILB Payton Wilson will win Defensive Rookie of the Year.
“Sign him up for a hundred tackles already,” Lewis said of Wilson. “It’s gonna happen. He was an absolute monster on the field for NC State. [He has a] GPS to the football. Blew up the [NFL Scouting] Combine with his athleticism. He’s had some injury concerns, which led to the fall down the draft board, but he landed in a great spot right there.”
When healthy, Wilson was a tackling machine at NC State. Over his final two years, he recorded 220 tackles for the Wolfpack. That included 138 in 2023, averaging 11.5 per game. But his splash plays won him awards as the best linebacker in college football. He racked up tackles for loss (30 his last two years), blitzed and took down quarterbacks (10.5 over that same span) and intercepted three passes in his final season. With speed and range, Wilson won the Bednarik Award and became an All-American.
But a history of knee and shoulder issues dropped him to No. 98 overall where Pittsburgh stopped his fall. He’s been healthy the last two years but there’s leaguewide skepticism he’ll stay that way the longer he gets into his career. Mike Tomlin, however, doesn’t seem to be concerned. For his rookie season, Wilson could be productive, just in the way Kendrell Bell burned brightly for the briefest of times.
Still, finishing with 100 tackles means playing in an every-down role. Or something close to it. Patrick Queen isn’t coming off the field and Elandon Roberts impressed last year, holding down the fort and playing through his own injuries after Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander were lost for the season. But in a draft class where a record number of offensive players were selected before the first defender heard his name called, Indianapolis Colts EDGE Laiatu Latu at No. 15, the field is wide open. And Wilson’s issue isn’t talent.
Offensively, Lewis believes the first of the Steelers’ two third-round picks will take home the trophy.
“I’m giving it to Roman Wilson,” he said. “So go Roman Wilson and Payton Wilson…there it is, your rookies of the year.”
Lewis didn’t offer much of an explanation why he thinks Roman Wilson will beat out a tough field. But the Steelers lack a No. 2 receiver opposite George Pickens and Pittsburgh’s passing offense should be stronger this season with QB Russell Wilson throwing to him. It’s a much more aggressive prediction, and with six quarterbacks selected in the top 12, Wilson probably isn’t beating out Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and the like. But if the prediction comes true, it’ll be a great year for not just the Steelers’ rookies but the overall team itself.
