Leading up to the 2024 season there was a lot of excitement for wide receiver Roman Wilson within the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense. Then, in the blink of an eye on the first day of padded practices last summer at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, that excitement disappeared.
Wilson, on a jet sweep in Seven Shots, went down with an ankle injury in ugly fashion. The Michigan product then left practice on a cart, which raised concerns, before then showing up the next day in a walking boot, being determined as “week to week” with a high-ankle sprain.
That injury lingered longer than many expected, causing Wilson to remain on the bench well into the start of the 2024 season.
For Steelers’ long snapper Christian Kuntz, it was a “bad” ankle injury for the young receiver, one that he’s had experience with before. But now that Wilson is healthy entering the 2025 season, expectations are high for the former third-round pick, who could be a big piece for the Steelers offensively.
“Everyone’s forgetting about Roman. Like, Roman had a bad ankle injury, dude. It sucked,” Kuntz said of Wilson’s injury, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “It was a hip-drop tackle. It was an accident in training camp. We were in a live period, guys are competing and it happened. An ankle injury, dude, I twisted my ankle, what was as that two years ago, three years ago? I got rolled up on, I thought my whole leg went in half. I thought I broke my leg and thankfully it was just my ankle.”
The injury to Wilson last summer was unfortunate. As Kuntz said, it was a live session on the first day of padded practice, and the Steelers were getting work in during Seven Shots in the goal-to-go situation.
It wasn’t intentional, but veteran cornerback Anthony Averett tackled Wilson on the play last training camp in what appeared to be more of a hip-drop tackle, resulting in Wilson’s injury.
That led to Wilson being in a walking boot with initial reports putting him out until Week 1 of the 2024 season, which was in early September. Wilson ended up missing much more time than expected as the high-ankle sprain was tricky to deal with, especially at the receiver position.
“As a receiver planting and stuff, that’s a hard injury to come back from,” Kuntz said of Wilson’s injury.
Eventually, Wilson was able to work his way back onto the field and saw five snaps in Week 6 against the Las Vegas Raiders on the road, but that would be all the action he saw as a rookie as Wilson later suffered a hamstring injury in practice and was placed on Injured Reserve on October 28, effectively ending his rookie season as he wasn’t designated to return until December 31.
Now though, ahead of his second trip to Latrobe, Wilson is drawing rave reviews for his work ethic and determination. He’s stayed late after sessions during Organized Team Activities and mandatory minicamp to get extra work in, doing everything in his power to ensure his body and his game are both ready to hit the ground running in Year 2.
That has teammates excited, including Kuntz.
If Wilson can be the player the Steelers envisioned him being when they drafted him in the third round out of Michigan in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Steelers’ wide receiver room should be in great shape under position coach Zach Azzanni, especially with Aaron Rodgers under center.
Who knows, Wilson might even be able to be Rodgers’ version of Randall Cobb in 2025, too.
