The Pittsburgh Steelers knew they had to bring in some new faces to fix the hole in the receiver room after trading away Diontae Johnson. They added a couple depth pieces in free agency, then used a third-round draft pick to select Roman Wilson. As of now, Wilson seems to be in competition with Van Jefferson for the other starting position outside of George Pickens, as well as competing with Calvin Austin III for the starting slot option. Steeler Nation is hoping that they can trade for a big-name receiver, but Wilson may be forced to start right away.
The Steelers may be perfectly fine if Wilson has to be the full-time starter for the Steelers. While making an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, insider Gerry Dulac did not hesitate when singing Wilson's praises, and even compared him to a Super Bowl MVP.
"I'm with you Rich, I like Roman Wilson. You talk about a guy who is a perfect number two type of receiver, kind of a Hines Ward type with the physical nature of his game. He catches everything thrown at him, loves to play in traffic. That was Hines Ward's signature. I'm not going to sit here and tell you 'He's going to be Hines Ward,' but I like the draft pick."
The Steelers have had plenty of highly talented receivers during the Mike Tomlin era, and Wilson is projected to join that long list of amazing receivers. Hopefully, he will be able to stick around for much longer than most of those players, but if he can truly be that Hines Ward style of receiver, he should have no problem with sticking around in Pittsburgh for a long time.
Wilson has already proven that he's willing to do anything to be the best receiver that he can possibly be, so there should be no surprises when he shows up and plays his style of football. The Steelers have been able to find great receivers for years, but they have had some issues with finding those do-it-all receivers as of late. That issue may finally be fixed.
Ward was known to be one of the best blocking receivers in the league. Wilson will have to follow in his footprints in that regard, considering the fact that the Steelers will be a run-first team. Sure, Wilson can still be a quality option in the passing game, but if he can't block, he will lose lots of snaps to other depth receivers that are capable of opening up some space downfield for the running game.
Steelers Want Hall Of Fame Level Production From Wilson
While Ward has not made it to the Hall of Fame, he has been praised as a Hall of Fame caliber receiver for how he changed the game. He could do everything that was asked of him, and he could play at every receiver position if needed. Ward's impact went far beyond the stat lines, and that level of production helped the Steelers win two Super Bowls. Ward even won MVP in Super Bowl XL.
While Wilson will most likely not win Super Bowl MVP, he will still be expected to help in that way. Considering the fact that he will be a "Wide Receiver 2" in a run-first offense during his rookie season at the very best, he will have to be productive in ways that won't show up on the stat sheet or the highlight reels. That style of play may not result in a gold jacket like in Ward's case, but it will result in many wins, and maybe even a Lombardi Trophy.
