After an eventful offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers may be done adding to their roster. That doesn’t mean every position is complete, though. One spot with a lack of proven talent, and a few young faces, is wide receiver. According to Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema, that’s the position battle to watch during training camp in Pittsburgh. And Sikkema is especially interested in Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson
“For the Pittsburgh Steelers, wide receiver,” Sikkema said on PFF’s NFL Show on Monday. “DK Metcalf is obviously the WR1 on this team, but he’s new. He’s new, on a new team and a new offense. You bring in the veteran Robert Woods as well. But two younger guys, one of them a little bit younger than the other, Calvin Austin, I’m very curious to see how much of a target load he has for this team. And then Roman Wilson as well.”
One could argue the Steelers upgraded their WR1 spot, swapping George Pickens for DK Metcalf. Aside from Metcalf, though, there are a lot of questions at the position.
For some, that’s a glaring red flag, especially after a similar issue in the 2024 season. Pickens was the only real playmaker at the position and he was held quiet too often. For a few months, Pittsburgh had a great WR duo in Metcalf and Pickens. But with Pickens now gone, somebody is going to have to step up as WR2.
The early frontrunner seems to be Austin. After a quiet rookie season, he took a solid step forward in 2024, and even had more touchdowns than Pickens. He wasn’t consistent enough to be a true WR2, but that’s a role the Steelers are looking for him to take over in 2025.
However, he’s not the only receiver with a chance to grab that spot.
“Roman Wilson is the big-time X factor for me,” Sikkema said. “I really liked Roman Wilson, his final year at Michigan. I’m wondering if we will lean a little more into Roman Wilson this upcoming season. I’m a big Roman Wilson guy.”
With the Steelers never adding significant receiving help last year, they clearly had a lot of faith in Wilson. However, he’s yet to prove them right. After suffering an ankle injury on the first day of padded practice last summer, Wilson saw just five snaps in his rookie year, and never had a target. He’s gotten good reviews this offseason, but again, there may be some growing pains.
There’s also a chance the Steelers’ WR2 isn’t even a receiver. After landing Jonnu Smith a couple weeks ago as part of a blockbuster trade, he’s going to have a role in this offense as well. Smith had nearly 900 receiving yards and scored eight times last year. He was arguably more productive than any receiver on Pittsburgh’s roster in 2024. That, plus his ability to line up out wide, makes him an obvious candidate for that role.
Beyond those players, Robert Woods, Scotty Miller and Ben Skowronek will be fighting to make the roster. Undrafted free agents Roc Taylor and Montana Lemonious-Craig could make a name for themselves as well. Yet, the likelihood any of them make a major impact is slim. If Pittsburgh gets a lot of production from this unit, it’s likely going to come from Roman Wilson or Calvin Austin.