It hasn’t been the rookie season that many expected for Pitsburgh Steelers rookie WR Roman Wilson, who’s played just five snaps this season, all of which came in Week 6 against the Las Vegas Raiders. That was the only game that Wilson has been active for, which was a positive development and seemed as if he was turning a corner after working his way back from an ankle injury suffered in training camp. But then, Wilson popped up on the injury report with a hamstring issue last week, and he was inactive in Week 7 against the New York Jets due to the missed practice time, Mike Tomlin told reporters on Tuesday.
“As we’ve talked repeatedly in this setting, Roman needs to work for me to really consider him. His participation got compromised some last week, and so really once it got compromised, I moved on,” Tomlin said during his weekly press conference via the team’s YouTube channel.
The Steelers have historically been fairly cautious with their rookies, and with Wilson not getting work in during most of training camp or the entire preseason due to his injury, it was always going to be awhile until he saw the field. While Wilson returned to full practice early in the season, the Steelers remained cautious with him, and he finally got a chance to hit the field in Week 6 before another injury set his progress back.
At this point, it doesn’t feel as if the Steelers will get a lot out of Wilson this year. While the Week 9 bye week could give him some extra time to get comfortable in the offense and work his way into a bigger role, the Steelers are likely going to add to their receiver room. And it’s going to be hard for Wilson to earn a role over someone like Calvin Austin III, who’s been pretty solid for Pittsburgh this season. Austin has been manning the slot for the Steelers, and that’s where Wilson would play.
Given the fact he was already jumping on a moving train due to missing time with the ankle, the additional time missed due to the hamstring injury just sets his chances of seeing the field and progressing back even further.
That doesn’t mean Wilson won’t be a solid player and a viable receiver for the Steelers down the line, and there’s still plenty of season left for him to look to contribute in some way if he can get on the field. But it’s probably best to temper expectations for just how much the Steelers might get out of the third-round draft pick this season.
