The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 draft class, including WR Roman Wilson, looked good on paper. The problem is they didn’t look quite as good in the training camp. Half the class spent most of the season injured, though those who contributed acquitted themselves well.
The Steelers drafted Wilson understanding that they needed immediate wide receiver help. They had just traded starter Diontae Johnson and only browsed the discount bin in free agency. While they hoped all offseason to land a big fish via trade, they only reeled in a soggy Mike Williams. And that was already too little, too late.
So what does Wilson’s snakebitten rookie season mean for himself and the Steelers going into 2025? Does it have him starting from the back of the class, so to speak? “I don’t necessarily think so”, Ray Fittipaldo said on 93.7 The Fan. He talked about the extent and impact of the time that he lost, and how much that set him back.
“So he came back, was injured again, and at that point, they pretty much said, ‘Listen, you’re not gonna help us this year.”, he said of Roman Wilson, whom the Steelers placed on IR after injuring his hamstring following his NFL debut. “We’re gonna keep you on IR this year. And you’ll be around the building and you’ll learn, but you’re not gonna get to play’”.
Speaking of Troy Fautanu and Roman Wilson, he added that both “have the potential to be impact starters next season”. The Steelers would certainly like that to be true, and right now, they have no alternatives. They don’t have much at wide receiver other than George Pickens, assuming they don’t trade him.
Not so long ago, the Steelers used to look at rookies like they had the plague. They were there to learn and nothing else, or so it seemed. That methodology changed long ago, one might argue for the worse, around the NFL. Young players now have little choice but to play, whether they’re ready for it or not. NFL teams need the young labor to have a chance to succeed, or else be exceedingly lucky.
So the Steelers need Roman Wilson next year, unless they pull off something significant. Now, if they keep Pickens, sign or trade for a significant starter, and draft a first-round receiver, that is different. Including Calvin Austin III, then, they might not even need Wilson in 2025.
But they didn’t draft him in the third round just to up their Hawaii contingent on the roster, or their Wilson count. The Steelers saw in Roman Wilson somebody who would help their offense, and help it quickly. In the first few days of training camp, he was starting to look the part, before injury changed the narrative.
Wilson is a wild card for the Steelers right now, but how exactly do they approach it? Do they simply not consider him at all and approach the offseason accordingly? Do they operate under the assumption that he can be at least their third wide receiver if necessary? The Steelers expect second-year players to make a big jump, and they could use one from Roman Wilson.
