Roman Wilson Quietly is Becoming a Huge Factor in Steelers Offense

Wilson Off to Best Start in Pittsburgh Career

Pittsburgh quietly put together a 20-13 win over Atlanta in Week 1, on a weekend when NFL offenses matched a record set in 2012 with 791 points scored across the league.

Roman Wilson didn’t contribute to that scoring frenzy Sunday against the Falcons.

He did, however, contribute something Pittsburgh has been waiting to see.

Three catches for 26 yards won’t stop anyone scrolling through a box score. Six targets should.

“Got to start somewhere,” Wilson said after the game.

For Wilson, somewhere suddenly looks a hell of a lot different than it did a year ago.

Aaron Rodgers targeted the Steelers’ 2024 third-round pick six times against Atlanta. Last season, it took Wilson six games to collect five targets. He surpassed that total in four quarters on Sunday.

“Like I said, it just feels good to, you know, start building on it,” Wilson said. “All the hard work starting to pay off, and just happy we won.”

Wilson was unquestionably one of Pittsburgh’s better performers throughout OTAs and training camp. The question was whether all those summer flashes would survive once practices became games and defensive backs stopped wearing the same helmet.

Especially the deep ball.

Throughout camp, Rodgers repeatedly looked for Wilson downfield.

Against Atlanta, they finally took that connection into a game, with Wilson drawing a pass interference penalty on a deep shot that flipped the field by roughly 50 yards.

“What was that, like 50 yards? Just completely flipped the field,” Wilson said when asked about the play.

It won’t appear next to his three catches or 26 receiving yards.

It still mattered.

And that may be the more interesting part of Wilson’s Week 1 performance.

Rodgers kept looking for him.

The quarterback who spent the summer testing Wilson vertically didn’t abandon the idea when the games began counting. The production wasn’t explosive, but the intent was unmistakable.

There was a time when Wilson’s trajectory in Pittsburgh looked bleak.

His first two seasons offered more waiting than arriving, with injuries, limited opportunities and stretches where his place in the offense seemed uncertain.

Through all of it, Wilson has emerged to look more comfortable, more involved and, perhaps most importantly, more trusted.

“I like to just live in the moment and try not to think about what this thing can or can’t be because, you know, we’re a good team,” Wilson said.

Fair enough.

We can look at the six targets for him.

They speak louder than 26 yards.

They suggest Wilson is moving beyond being an afterthought in Mike McCarthy’s offense and toward becoming an actual piece of it.

“It started at the end of OTAs,” McCarthy said of the deep passing connection between Rodgers and Wilson.

The deep-ball opportunities are there. Rodgers is looking his way. The work everyone watched throughout the spring and summer is beginning to show up on Sundays.

Three catches won’t make Wilson a headline.

Six targets might be the beginning of one.

Roman Wilson Career Numbers

• Games Played: 21
• Career Starts: 4
• Targets: 27
• Receptions: 15
• Receiving Yards: 192
• Touchdowns: 2

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