For all the media buzz surrounding Steelers WR Roman Wilson after the preseason, he only played 10 snaps with zero targets in Week 1 against the Jets. That raises questions about his role in the offense this season moving forward.
HC Mike Tomlin was asked about Wilson’s lack of snaps during his Tuesday press conference.
“Lack of possession of the football and agenda relative to that day,” Tomlin said via the Steelers’ YouTube. “As I mentioned after the game, I got no intentions of explaining the minutiae of rep distribution week in and week out. We got a really good collective. In some instances, highly specialized skill sets. And so in some weeks those skill sets are gonna be highlighted and utilized. Some weeks they’re gonna be minimized.”
One thing to consider moving forward is the shortcomings of Broderick Jones and the offensive line. If that continues, the Steelers will be forced to run 12 or 13 personnel with extra tight ends to help chip and seal the edge. They simply cannot let Aaron Rodgers get hit as much as he did against the Jets.
Extra tight ends come at the expense of a wide receiver, and with Calvin Austin III securing the No. 2 WR role, that would leave Wilson with less snaps. Wilson, Ben Skowronek, and Scotty Miller all had roughly the same number of snaps in Week 1 with 10, 10, and 9 respectively. Tomlin referred to their specialized skill sets, which likely played into that even distribution of snaps.
In short, it wasn’t intentional to leave Wilson without a single target. That will change from week to week depending on the Steelers’ game plan, but Wilson might be stuck with a limited role for now unless injuries hit the WR room.
It’s not dissimilar to the way Austin was used in his second season after returning from a lost rookie year to injury. And things seem to be panning out nicely for Austin’s career with progress in each of his three healthy seasons. Wilson will eventually be a factor in Pittsburgh, but the time does not appear to be now.
