At long last
The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing to activate rookie wide receiver Roman Wilson for the first time this season as they travel to Las Vegas for a showdown with the Raiders. Wilson, a third-round pick in this year’s draft, suffered an ankle injury in training camp that derailed the start of his season.
Wilson worked his way back from the injury, but after missing that time, there appeared to still be some progress to be made in terms of his readiness to take the field. He’s been a healthy scratch since finally making his way off the injury report. Despite being off the injury report, however, videos surfacing from practice appeared to show that Wilson still didn’t seem entirely comfortable with the ankle, which explains the fact that he’s been inactive despite a total lack of depth at wide receiver for the Steelers this year.
Justin Fields has thrown for 961 passing yards this season, with 543 of those going to wide receivers on the team; George Pickens has accounted for a startling 310 of them (57.1%). If Wilson can carve out a role as the WR2 on the offense, things could open up drastically for Pickens especially. Wilson can also serve a role in the blocking game, having received plenty of experience in that area in Michigan’s pro-style offense — an asset that should surely earn him more playing time in Arthur Smith’s offense as he continues to get healthier further out from his ankle injury.