While the Pittsburgh Steelers parted with most of their wide receiver room from last season, they did add more players at the position than they lost, including third-round draft pick Roman Wilson. George Pickens is their clear No. 1 receiver, though the rest of the roles need figuring out. But how many roles are there in an Arthur Smith-run offense for wide receivers? Wilson isn’t concerned.
“This offense definitely uses the receivers a lot”, Wilson said during OTAs yesterday, via the team’s website. “I mean, the way you’re referring to it, if you want to say as far as throwing the ball. But receivers are used a lot in the run game, and that’s just part of my game, too. I’m just gonna go in and do whatever I can to help this team win”.
Asked if he expects Smith to use more 11 personnel this year, Wilson said, “I got no idea what he’s gonna do. But I know, whatever he does, I just make sure I’m ready for it”.
As we’ve talked about previously, Smith historically hasn’t been a big 11 personnel guy as play caller. He has five years of experience in that capacity, including two as offensive coordinator in Tennessee. He called the plays as head coach for the Atlanta Falcons for the past three seasons as well.
In 2023, the Falcons ran just 17 percent of its plays out of 11 personnel, the lowest rate in the NFL. They ranked in the top five for all of the heavier personnel sets, including the highest usage of 12. That’s two tight ends, two receivers, and one running back, which Smith used 42 percent of the time.
With Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington (and Connor Heyward, Rodney Williams, and MyCole Pruitt), one can easily see the Steelers significantly increasing their usage of 12 personnel under Arthur Smith. But he also claims to play to his talents, and Roman Wilson plans to make himself useful.
After all, if Smith is comfortable running out of 11 personnel, why wouldn’t he? And you still have two receivers in 12 personnel, so Wilson feels he can be one of those two. Right now, he seems to stand a good chance of claiming that role. Pickens is the obvious top receiver, but nobody is demanding that Van Jefferson play 800 snaps.
Roman Wilson isn’t the biggest receiver on the roster, but he may be the most eager blocker. Jim Harbaugh instilled the “no block, no rock” mentality into him at Michigan. That means if you don’t carry out your blocking assignments, you’re not getting receiving assignments.
But fans want to know how many targets he or any receiver not named George Pickens will get. Historically, Smith’s second receivers don’t get a ton of looks. Wilson is also a rookie coming to a team installing a new offense that wants to run the ball.
Maybe Wilson does play a lot of snaps. Maybe he throws a lot of blocks. At some point, however, the Steelers are bound to have to throw the football. All Wilson has to do is get on the field. If he’s open, they’ll get him the ball sooner or later. That’s how Antonio Brown’s career kick-started. He got open when he got on the field, and he just kept catching passes and making plays.
