Mike Tomlin Explains Why Steelers Rookie Was Sidelined Last Year
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin gave an in-depth answer when asked about wide receiver Roman Wilson’s lack of playing time in 2024, despite being healthy near the end of the season.
As a rookie, Wilson played just five snaps of in-game action. He didn’t appear on the stat sheet and was placed on injured reserve with a second ailment in late October. Despite being designated to return before the Steelers’ regular-season finale, he remained on the list the rest of the way.
“He was healthy, but healthy and football readiness were two different things, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said at the NFL owner’s meetings on Monday. “When you’re coming back from injury, you’re essentially getting on a moving train, is the analogy that I like to use, and we talk about a guy that had very little NFL experience, and so he was healthy at the end of the year. He was working extremely hard in practice, but a real avenue never presented itself due to the misfortune of others, or what have you for him to contribute. But 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, and over the last two years, he’s gone on to move away from that, to be a real positive contributor to our efforts, and we expect some of those things from Roman.”
Wilson had a standout collegiate career at Michigan. He had 1,707 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns on 107 grabs for the Wolverines. He dropped just one pass on that level, a consistent nature the Steelers were hoping to benefit from.
“He’s got versatility,” Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said after the team drafted Wilson. “When you get into some of the passing situations on later downs, he’s got inside-out flexibility. You like his instincts that he could play inside on obvious passing situations.”
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Palm Beach, Fla.