Steelers rookie WR Roman Wilson carted off after suffering injury in training camp session
Pittsburgh Steelers rookie wide receiver Roman Wilson ended his day of training camp in the worst way on Tuesday – by taking a cart off the field. It’s unclear what Wilson injured, but the team was working on a jet sweep during practice when the injury occurred.
The Steelers are in their second week of training camp and it would be a big blow to lose one of their high-rated draft picks so early in the year. Mike Tomlin and the staff have high hopes for Wilson who is coming off of a national championship run with Michigan last year.
The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Roman Wilson with the No. 84 overall pick in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. In his final year for the Wolverines, he had a career-high 48 catches for 789 yards and 12 touchdowns, which led the Michigan offense. He was first-rounder JJ McCarthy‘s favorite target and a big reason why the star quarterback became such a highly-coveted selection in this year’s draft.
Wilson joined a Steelers wide receivers room this spring with George Pickens and Van Jefferson. Wideouts that could step up in his place if his injury is long-term are Scotty Miller, Quez Watkins and Calvin Austin.
NFL analyst predicts Justin Fields will start for Steelers
ESPN insider Dan Graziano predicted this week that Justin Fields will be the Week 1 starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers, not Russell Wilson. When the Steelers signed Wilson, it was logical to think he was the starter for 2024. But once they acquired Fields, things got interesting.
It could very well be the twilight of Wilson’s career and due to an injury prior to training camp, Fields might have a shot. The former Bears first-rounder has been taking the bulk of the reps in camp so far.
“It’s a lot more of a coin flip than most think, and I believe that part of the reason the Steelers have set Wilson up as the leader in the competition is because they believe that’s the best way to manage him,” Graziano wrote for ESPN. “But I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Fields will show enough through camp to catch him and claim the Week 1 starting spot. I know most people disagree, and I am fully prepared to be wrong.
“But the vibes didn’t start off great for Wilson, and I just think the Steelers are going to be too tempted by Fields’ upside once they see them both out there. The question then would become whether Wilson is on the team at all.”
Graziano says Fields and Wilson are both in one-year, “prove it” situations. Pittsburgh has to see if they can roll with either QB or start preparing for the 2025 NFL Draft class.
On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.