Roman Wilson was one of the most discussed players on the Pittsburgh Steelers throughout the 2024 regular season. An explosive receiver out of Michigan, many fans—including myself—were expecting big things from Wilson during his rookie year, especially given the Steelers' proven history of drafting great receivers outside of the first round.
However, Wilson saw just five snaps throughout his 2024 rookie season—in Week 6 against the Las Vegas Raiders—with zero targets to show for it.
Why did Roman Wilson disappear in 2024?
At the 2025 NFL Annual League Meeting, Steelers beat reporter Nick Farabaugh took time to question head coach Mike Tomlin on Wilson’s limited usage, despite being healthy at the end of the season.
Tomlin explained that health and football readiness were two completely different aspects to consider, stating that the right opportunity didn’t present itself for Wilson to properly make an impact on offense.
However, Tomlin quickly shifted away from the past and looked forward to the future:
"We're expecting really good things for him in his second year. I think that's a reasonable expectation. I think from time-to-time guys get faced with injury and it derails their start, but by no means do we feel like it's going to define his career. Calvin Austin is an example of that. Calvin missed a significant portion of his rookie year, similar to Roman. Over the last two years he's gone on to move away from that and be a real positive contributor to our efforts. We expect similar things from Roman."
It is encouraging to hear the confidence Tomlin has in Wilson’s second season, but the young receiver has big shoes to fill—as he will be tasked with upholding the Steelers' newfound tradition of drafting great receivers outside of the first round, like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, and George Pickens.
I asked Mike Tomlin why Roman Wilson didn't carve out a role despite being healthy by the end of the year, and where the team is setting his expectations into Year 2.
— Nick Farabaugh (@FarabaughFB) March 31, 2025
Here's the full answer:
"Healthy and football readiness were two different things to be quite honest with you." pic.twitter.com/2npCtUDuQv
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers HC Mike Tomlin expects big things from Roman Wilson in 2025
