PITTSBURGH — More than half an hour after practice ended at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, the wheels of the JUGS machines kept spinning. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. The machines spit out football after football after football in the direction of Roman Wilson.
The 24-year-old receiver caught a bucket’s worth of balls reaching to his right. A bucket’s worth of balls reaching behind him. A bucket’s worth of balls on one knee. A bucket’s worth of balls on the other knee. A bucket’s worth of balls sitting down.
Meanwhile, coach Mike McCarthy — standing just about 20 yards away — fielded a question about what Wilson will need to do to take the next step as he enters Year 3.
“Just keep doing exactly what he’s doing,” McCarthy said, glancing over in the receiver’s direction. “He’s been here from Day 1. He was one of the first men to reach out and just clearly ask what the expectation was of him, how I viewed him, how I saw him fitting in, as far as X, F and Z.
“He’s doing the work. He’s had a great offseason, so I just need him to keep showing up and keep working his tail off, because he’s got a skill set. There’s a lot there to work with.”
As Wilson prepares to enter his third NFL season, he is one of the significant X-factors that has the potential to swing the wide receiver room and the offense as a whole in one direction or another. If he takes a substantial step forward, earns Aaron Rodgers’ trust and uses his versatility to contribute at all three receiver positions, the Steelers will have one of the most well-rounded and deep receiver rooms they’ve had in years.
At the same time, even after adding Germie Bernard in the draft, the Steelers need Wilson to seize his opportunity. Last year, the third receiver on the depth chart was a rotational player in one of the least receiver-friendly offenses in the league. In a McCarthy offense that will utilize a ton of 11 personnel (one back, one tight end and three receivers), the Steelers will need three or more starting-caliber players at the position.
Given this style of offense, the opportunity will be there for Wilson, but if he doesn’t capitalize, this position group could start looking awfully thin.
“It’s been very exciting,” Wilson said. “Mike McCarthy is a great coach. I love everything he’s done here so far. I love his offense. I love him. I love the guys he’s brought in. It’s been great.”
The first two years of Wilson’s career have challenged him in different ways. As a rookie, he was enjoying a strong training camp when a hip-drop tackle caused a high-ankle sprain. Just when Wilson began to get healthy, he experienced another injury and was subsequently shut down. The repeated setbacks essentially turned his first season into a redshirt year.
Last year, the Steelers entered the season with some uncertainty behind DK Metcalf. During training camp, Rodgers often praised Wilson, while also making it clear that he’d have high expectations for him. It seemed at one point that Wilson could be part of the solution at WR2.
Wilson had his moments in the middle of the year, catching 21 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. However, after several missed connections with Rodgers, Wilson slid down the depth chart, leapfrogged by a pair of midseason free-agent additions, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Adam Thielen. In four of the final five games of the season, the coaching staff made Wilson a healthy scratch. The hard lessons and bumps in the road haven’t discouraged him.
“Just keep building on it,” Wilson said. “From everything I’ve learned, apply that to what I’m doing. Really, just try to take off.”
The injuries taught him the importance of taking care of his body like a pro. This offseason, he spent time with several wide receiver coaches, including the so-called “Route God,” James Everett Jr., to work on different aspects of his game.
“I learned a lot about myself, a lot about football and a lot about just route running in general,” Wilson said. “So I think my offseason went very well.”
The emphasis on route running is especially important for Wilson. During his college career at Michigan, he was willing to go over the middle to make catches and showed his speed with a 4.39 40-yard dash at the 2024 NFL Scouting combine. While he could always make crisp speed cuts to create separation, his pacing could improve. Especially with a QB like Rodgers and a play-calling head coach like McCarthy, these details are critical. As Rodgers explained last week, West Coast offense pioneer Bill Walsh used to say a quarterback should be able to go through his progression blind, knowing exactly where a receiver would be.
“I think Coach McCarthy done a good job explaining how our routes are tied into the quarterback’s footwork,” Wilson said. “It’s still early in the season with a whole new, different type of plays and concepts and everything, but it’s been going very well so far.”
Throughout the rest of the offseason and into training camp, Wilson will be one of the key players to continue to monitor. It’s not hyperbolic to say this could become a make-or-break season that determines his future with the Steelers.
