What are the expectations for Roman Wilson’s 2025 Steelers season?
The Pittsburgh Steelers fan base has been patiently awaiting Roman Wilson since he was selected in the 3rd Round of the 2024 NFL Draft. The wait has been long as he spent almost the entire 2024 season on Injured Reserve (IR) or the inactive list. With a “red-shirt” year under his belt, it is fair to wonder what expectations should, and are, for Wilson heading into the 2025 regular season?
To me, when I consider expectations for a player like Wilson, I look at a player like Calvin Austin III who also had a red-shirt year in 2022 to give me a point of reference.
Take a look at Austin’s first two productive years of his career, from a statistical perspective. Would this be a good reference point for expectations for Wilson in 2025?
2023
Games: 17
Receptions: 17
Yards: 180
Average: 10.6
Long: 72
TD: 1
2024
Games: 17
Receptions: 36
Yards: 548
Average: 15.2
Long: 55
TD: 4
If I’m being honest, if the Steelers don’t go out and get another wide receiver in some capacity, I would be rather disappointed if Wilson’s 2025 stat line resembled Austin’s 2023. While Austin is a diminutive player, Wilson is a receiver who can be called upon to do some of the dirty work Arthur Smith will ask of his receivers. The more you can do, the more opportunities you’ll have in the offense.
With that said, I feel like I would place expectations for Wilson in 2025 to resemble Austin’s 2024. 548 yards might be ambitious, but I don’t think it is out of the realm of possibility either. While some might be down on Wilson after his injury plagued season last year, we should forget just how excited people were to see him produce when he was drafted out of Michigan coming off a National Championship victory.
I went back and looked at Wilson’s 2023 Michigan stats as a reference point, and here is what they were in the run-heavy system of Jim Harbaugh:
Games: 15
Receptions: 48
Yards: 789
Average: 16.4
TD: 12
Does college productivity equate in NFL productivity? The answer to that is no, but it does show what Wilson can do when healthy and put into a system which maximizes his skill set. For those who forget what Wilson can do, take a look at Coach Kevin Smith’s breakdown he did for our YouTube channel after the 2024 draft:
What are your expectations for Wilson? Let us know in the comment section below, and be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the rest of the offseason.
Expectations for R. Wilson, ’25: (no one else brought in)
680 yards would be an amazing step in the right direction!
My expectation is ambitious because in my speculation above, Roman is WR2. These would be a stretch set of goals even for, say, Doubs. One day “off” for wear-and-tear.
And. 85 targets is probably too high to expect.
If Wilson gets 85 targets, the Steelers are probably relying on the pass a little too much for my liking. But I’d love to see him be productive in his first full season in the NFL.
Yes. Pgh’s going to be coming from behind a bit. 55/85 = 0.647, puts a high demand upon Pgh QB X, and RW. Maybe the D can bend some, and D will still need to turn over the ball >/= 32 times. Running game must go for >/= 2100 yds. Oh, such fun, like ’94.
12.36 Y/R
Oddly specific
4th, my expectation is what it is…680Y/55R = 12.36Y/R, approximately. How awful, Tizen has no tilde. I chose 680 instead of 682 for yards recieved by RW. Why ask why, it’s Memorex, not live. Speculation.
My expectations are low. He’s gonna make the team so I’ll go from there. I can see something like he gets a helmet in 14 games, has 15 to 20 catches for 250 yards, and one TD.
Could happen…
Does college productivity equate in NFL productivity?
In this case it might. That productivity is really not that high for college and more indicative of the type of offense that Michigan played where they only threw 40% of the time. It’s very possible in an offense that threw more, his stats would be a lot higher.
So there is definately potential, especially if Metcalf receives a lot of attention and they use Austin to be the field stretcher to see Wilson get a lot of underneath passes aka the way Hines Ward used to be productive.
A lot will depend on his ability to find the open spots in the field and gain confidence with whoever the starter will be. But I could easily see him becoming Rudolphs go to guy when he’s not throwing deep.
Sure, as for ’94 Steelers, except Hastings instead of Ward.
Hey, OTAs are starting tomorrow. FINALLY!
a true Pittsburgh Steelers fan, since the 70’s Roman Wilson shuold be fully healthy this 2025 season and also make the Steelers wide receiver room much better like he did in Michigan
That’s the idea, anyhow.
The rub with post BR7 time when looking at WR, TE, or RB production is what does the QB do. Who will it be. I would guess you would have different expectations if the QB is Rodgers vs Rudolph vs Howard.
My expectation is a little more subjective. I want to see a guy that looks like a legit NFL WR. I think you can see it right away. Don’t tell me what it looks like I will know when I see it. Even Claypool in his “Mapletron” era was not a great catcher of the football. The ball was always caught on the body, he didn’t have a very diverse route tree, etc. Johnson you could see that he had some craft. He was far from perfect, but you could tell he had enough game to be a good NFL WR. Unfortunately, you couldn’t see into his head right away, but the physical side was present.
I understand what you write about Claypool and Johnson and agree, as well as your thought about subjectivity. I’m lost at “post BR7 time”, dunno what that is. Also agree that skilled positions depend on QB, and OL.
Ben Roethisberger seven, my apology.
It is how I refer to a lot of players MR2 (Mason Rudolph), MF39 (Minkah), etc. Guys like Watt get written as TJ. It really is about minimizing my typing.
HUA. Thank you. Still learning, e.g. TIC and GFY. Vareity is spicy.