{"id":902127,"date":"2026-05-26T23:30:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T23:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/902127\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T23:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T23:30:17","slug":"out-of-sight-out-of-mind-insider-explains-why-mike-tomlin-was-down-on-roman-wilson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/902127\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind’: Insider Explains Why Mike Tomlin Was Down On Roman Wilson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wide receiver was one of the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 biggest weaknesses last year. DK Metcalf was their No. 1, but no one behind him stepped up. There was hope that a healthy Roman Wilson would contribute, but he had a disappointing season.<\/a> He finished the year with only 12 catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns, and he even got benched toward the end of the season. NFL insider Adam Caplan explained why Wilson didn\u2019t receive many opportunities in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoman Wilson, they had high hopes for when they drafted him,\u201d Caplan said Tuesday on the Inside the Birds podcast.<\/a> \u201cApparently, he\u2019s got great hands, but the former staff got down on him early because he got hurt. If you\u2019re young, players will explain to me, with [Mike] Tomlin, and you get hurt, it\u2019s out of sight, out of mind, unfortunately. But he could accelerate after the catch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson was the Steelers\u2019 first of two third-round pick in 2024, and there was hope that he could help replace the loss of Diontae Johnson. However, he only appeared in one game during an injury-plagued rookie season.<\/p>\n

However, the Steelers didn\u2019t forget about him after that. Tomlin went out of his way to compliment Wilson on multiple occasions in 2025. The Steelers didn\u2019t make any major additions to their receiver room last year. That felt like their way of giving Wilson opportunities. It seemed like they believed he could step up once he was healthy.<\/p>\n

Still, Tomlin\u2019s praise didn\u2019t match how much he used Wilson. The young receiver got benched, and while he returned to the lineup after DK Metcalf was suspended, he still didn\u2019t do much, barely getting on the field.<\/a><\/p>\n

Maybe Caplan is correct that Wilson missing almost all of his rookie year caused him to fall out of favor with Tomlin. However, there are examples of young Steelers who struggled to stay healthy and still received opportunities.<\/p>\n

Look at Cory Trice Jr., who missed his entire rookie year due to injury. Despite that, Trice wasn\u2019t buried on the depth chart in his second season. Tomlin gave him chances to start the year, and Trice even recorded a big interception in Week 2. Unfortunately, Trice continued to be plagued by injuries, and the Steelers recently let him go.<\/p>\n

However, he was still in a similar position as Wilson, and Tomlin didn\u2019t give up on him. There are other examples, too, like Calvin Austin III. He missed his entire rookie year with an injury, but he still carved a role out for himself over his other three seasons in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s lack of chemistry with Aaron Rodgers loomed large in his poor 2025 season. While the Steelers have a new coaching staff, Rodgers is still their quarterback. Wilson gets a clean slate, but he could still struggle to produce or even see the field.<\/a> Michael Pittman Jr. and Germie Bernard could take opportunities from him, too. Wilson\u2019s roster spot could even be in jeopardy if he isn\u2019t careful.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wide receiver was one of the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 biggest weaknesses last year. DK Metcalf was their No. 1,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[41130,7,1255,6,57,4112],"class_list":["post-902127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-adam-caplan","tag-football","tag-mike-tomlin","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-roman-wilson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116643484373136473","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}