With the selection of Michigan wide receiver Roman Wilson in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers now have five players on the team from the state of Hawaii — Wilson, Nate and Nick Herbig, Isaac Seumalo and Breiden Fehoko.
Wilson and Nick Herbig grew up playing youth football together and were teammates at Saint Louis High School in Honolulu.
“We kind of grew up together a little bit,” Wilson said on a conference call with Pittsburgh media. “So, that’s my guy.”
The chances of playing with a high school teammate in the pros is very slim. It’s something that Wilson doesn’t take for granted.
“I never thought I would be on the same team as him in the NFL. But as I got closer to the draft day, there were more and more rumblings about it. I could kind of see it happening before it started,” he said.
Look at us, who woulda thought @nickherbig_ | @Trilllroman pic.twitter.com/nZuE9Rg43i
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) April 30, 2024
Given the Steelers lack of depth at wide receiver, Wilson should see a lot of playing time in Year 1. Because of this, Chris Simms of NBC Sports envisions Wilson having a breakout rookie year that resembles what Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams did in 2023.
“Two guys I think jump to me here, one would be Roman Wilson of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and him being able to play right away is a big part of this. And the other one is Jermaine Burton of the Cincinnati Bengals,” Simms said on his Unbuttoned podcast.
Rhett Lewis of NFL Network thinks Wilson is going to burst onto the scene and surprise people, as well. He predicts that Wilson will win OROY.
“I’m giving (OROY) to Roman Wilson,” he said. “So Roman Wilson and Payton Wilson…there it is your rookies of the year,” Lewis said on a recent NFL Total Access episode.
Lewis didn’t provide much of an explanation for Roman Wilson winning OROY, but he’ll have his hands full with Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr., Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy, Malik Nabers and Romeo Odunze all in the mix, just to name a few.