Steelers WR Roman Wilson isn’t the only Wilson who has been healthy for weeks but remains a healthy scratch, nor is he anywhere near close to the more important of the two. But can we get a look at him anytime soon? I’m asking for a friend—former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger.
“Are we gonna see Roman Wilson at any point this year”? Roethlisberger asked on his Footbahlin podcast yesterday. “I don’t know that Roman’s gonna make a big splash, anyway. We’ve been talking now for weeks about needing a No. 2 receiver. It was never more apparent than it was last night that we need at No. 2 receiver”.
The Steelers netted 150 passing yards in their Sunday loss to the Dallas Cowboys. And 19 of those yards came from Kyle Allen, who should be the emergency quarterback behind the other Wilson. George Pickens caught three passes for 26 yards, Van Jefferson the same. Brandon Johnson (don’t worry if you just asked “who?”) caught one for nine and Calvin Austin III one for six.
Speaking of the who, yes, the Steelers elevated Brandon Johnson from the practice squad rather than dressing Wilson. Mike Tomlin has given every indication the rookie is healthy enough to play but that he needs to keep working. I can only wonder what they need to see.
A third-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Roman Wilson has yet to make his NFL debut after injuring his ankle on the fourth day of training camp. He missed all of the preseason and was still dealing with the injury weeks into the regular season.
But he hasn’t been on the injury report in a while, and yet the Steelers are coming up with new ways to not play him. Considering how little they are getting from their other wide receivers, many are wondering why Wilson doesn’t get a chance.
Of course, we don’t know everything the coaches know, so perhaps he is struggling with communication or something. Ray Fittipaldo said that he was looking better last week, but still insisted he wouldn’t dress yet. But it really wouldn’t take much for the Steelers to dress him if they actually wanted to.
To be honest, it’s almost starting to feel like this is about more than football. By no means am I suggesting that Roman Wilson is in any kind of doghouse, but is this some form of tough love from Tomlin? Does he think he’s protecting the rookie, making sure he can hit the ground running when he finally plays? Because he didn’t take those same precautions for Troy Fautanu, even if he did get more training camp work in.
I don’t know. Call my naïve, but I can’t help but agree with Roethlisberger’s sentiments. Without knowing all the reasons why the Steelers aren’t dressing him, I feel like it’s about time. Even with the time he did miss, if Roman Wilson can’t play by Week 6, having been healthy for weeks, he has a problem.
