Player: WR Roman Wilson
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: To nobody’s surprise, the Steelers are saying good things about Roman Wilson going into his second season. After being a non-factor as a rookie, largely due to injury, he has a chance to earn a big role in the offense. While he has faced skepticism given the course of his rookie season, 2025 marks a new year and new opportunity.
The Steelers went big and acquired DK Metcalf via trade, giving him a five-year, $150 million contract. Paired with George Pickens, that takes some of the pressure off of Roman Wilson. The second-year wide receiver can now slot into the third role, provided that he earns it.
Even with the addition of Metcalf, the Steelers could still use receiver help, in theory. That’s at least in part due to the fact that Pickens is likely in his last season here. In the not impossible event that they were to take a wide receiver in the first round, that would obviously complicate Roman Wilson’s relationship with playing time in 2025.
Of course, if the Steelers were to move Pickens in that scenario, Wilson would have a clear window. But he still has to compete with Calvin Austin III, who has developed into a solid depth player. He actually caught more touchdowns than Pickens last year, so there’s that.
A third-round pick out of Michigan, Roman Wilson injured his ankle early in training camp. That alone nearly spelled the end of his rookie season, causing him to miss all of the preseason. The injury lingered into the regular season, stalling his NFL debut. After playing all of five snaps in one game, however, he injured his hamstring and never dressed again.
In recent weeks, the Steelers have acknowledged that Roman Wilson was healthy at the end of last season. HC Mike Tomlin explained that, because of his time missed and his inexperience, he lacked football readiness.
Equally important, though, was the fact that the Steelers had no openings for playing time. With a full offseason, Wilson is ready to hit the ground running in an effort to crack the Steelers’ starting lineup. And his coaches remain optimistic that he can do just that, regardless of the outcome of 2024.
With the new league year underway and the Steelers turning their roster over, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of that change the team talked about after the season ended. Certainly, the move to trade for WR DK Metcalf qualifies as a change, not to mention the accompanying contract.
There is still a long way to go before we know what this Steelers team is going to look like. Once the dust settles on free agency, we turn our attention to the draft, and so on. What other moves might the team make, perhaps unexpected acquisitions or departures? If they traded for one player, they could certainly trade for another, or trade one away. This is a Steelers team starving for postseason success, but how desperate are they for a playoff win in 2025?
