With Calvin Austin III out with a shoulder injury suffered in Ireland, the proverbial door was seemingly wide open for second-year receiver Roman Wilson to step through it and claim a larger role on offense.
Against the visiting Cleveland Browns Sunday in a 23-9 win though, Wilson still saw himself behind a veteran receiver not named DK Metcalf. Wilson played just 15 snaps, while veteran Scotty Miller played 26 snaps.
Though Wilson was the only wide receiver outside of Metcalf to record a catch Sunday (one for 12 yards), the playing time just isn’t there. That comes even after head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters Tuesday to keep watching regarding Wilson and then praising his “dramatic growth” during his weekly interview with Steelers.com’s Bob Labriola.
It wasn’t dramatic enough for him to emerge as the WR2 behind Metcalf with Austin out, at least for one week.
That has former Steelers defensive lineman and current analyst Chris Hoke concerned about Wilson moving forward. Appearing on the KDKA-TV Nightly Sports Call Sunday, Hoke weighed in on Wilson’s lack of playing time.
“They must not have a lot of confidence in Roman Wilson right now because Scotty Miller’s been playing over him,” Hoke said Sunday, according to video via the Nightly Sports Call. “He’s in that package right now where they go jumbo set where you bring Spencer Anderson in, and you have Darnell Washington and Jonnu Smith and then you also have two receivers. You have Scotty Miller in there right now instead of Calvin Austin III and DK Metcalf. For some reason, they’re not putting Roman Wilson in – whether they’re not confident in his ability to go out there and execute the game plan or he doesn’t know the playbook or what. I don’t think it’s physical.
“It has to be mental in my opinion but not knowing what’s going on. It’s odd. It leaves me scratching my head why Scotty Miller is playing over Roman Wilson.”
It is very odd that Wilson just can’t get on the field consistently. He’s played just 59 total snaps this season, which is just 21% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps this season. That’s two snaps less than Miller, though Wilson is ahead of Ben Skowronek in snaps at the position.
After all the hype throughout the offseason, and the public praise that Wilson received from the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, Wilson’s lack playing time through the first five games just doesn’t make much sense.
Granted, the Steelers are running a lot of two- and three-tight end sets, so the numbers are limited at times for receivers. But the fact that a third-round pick like Wilson can’t get on the field and can’t get consistent work in the passing game is concerning.
As Tomlin said last Tuesday though, there’s a long way to go in the season. They still believe in Wilson, it’s just a schematic thing right now. Maybe that changes down the stretch and the Michigan product starts to get more work in the passing game. Hopefully he does, because the Steelers are going to need someone to emerge behind Metcalf and Austin late in the season.
