When the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted wide receiver Roman Wilson in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the hope was that he could bolster the team's wide receivers room, and hopefully sooner rather than later.
But Wilson suffered an ankle injury early in training camp, forcing him to miss the entire preseason. The injury lingered into the start of the regular season but the rookie has been healthy for a few weeks now. Despite that, he hasn't been active.
Head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith both explained that Wilson simply wasn't ready to play, as he had to get into better football shape and continue to develop after missing so much time.
With Wilson putting in another week of full practices, is he finally going to be active in Week 6 against the Las Vegas Raiders? Here's the latest news on that.
Is Roman Wilson playing today?
UPDATE: Wilson is indeed active for the Week 6 game against the Raiders, marking the first time he's dressed this season. We'll see what kind of role he has.
Inactives for #PITvsLV | @UPMCSportsMed
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 13, 2024
📝: https://t.co/scbf5bF5J5 pic.twitter.com/hEOHESBDzh
End of update
We have yet to get confirmation from the team about Wilson's status and we won't know for sure if he'll be active until the Steelers release their inactives an hour and a half before kickoff at 4:05 p.m. ET, but ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported on Saturday that Wilson will indeed be active on Sunday.
"Steelers rookie wideout Roman Wilson is expected to be active Sunday, per sources, marking his NFL debut vs. Raiders," Fowler wrote. "After an ankle injury slowed his start to the year, Wilson gives the Steelers passing game another option."
The Steelers desperately need a spark in the passing game after a lackluster start to the season in that area, but it remains to be seen if Wilson will provide that, especially in his NFL debut.
Chances are, Wilson is going to have a small role to begin his career, but if he can show flashes of being an impact player, it won't be long before Pittsburgh puts more on his plate moving forward.
