Roman Wilson

Wilson's prospect profile offers a lot of similarities to fellow rookie Ladd McConkey's, though the two aren't necessarily similar stylistically on the field. Like McConkey, the Michigan man was a three-year starter who consistently had good numbers per-route and per-target but never had the opportunity to run a large number of routes in a season. Wilson put up 39-420-3 on 190 routes as a sophomore, 25-377-4 on 191 routes as a junior and 48-789-12 on 300 routes as a senior, averaging at least 10.1 YPT each year. His target rate lingered around 20 percent of routes each year, which is one potential red flag, though partially explained by running a lot of deep routes and sharing a field with other future NFL players. Wilson confirmed his athleticism at the 2024 Combine, where he ran a 4.39 40 at 5-11, 185 (but skipped the other drills). For the Steelers, he looks like a safe pick in the third round rather than an upside bid, considering he'll be 23 as a rookie and profiles best as a medium-volume field stretcher. Pittsburgh already has one deep threat in WR George Pickens, but starting a pair of downfield specialists could work out well in what figures to be a run-heavy offense under new coordinator Arthur Smith. New QB Russell Wilson is known for his accuracy on deep sideline throws much more so than working over the middle, so this could be a good fit for Wilson in terms of both playing time and per-target efficiency, though Pittsburgh's offense doesn't offer a great volume ceiling.