Fittipaldo: Roman Wilson Needs To ‘Fill Out’ His Frame After Appearing Thinner Than Expected At OTAs

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster is actually looking pretty complete going into the 2024 season, but the one glaring weakness remains at the wide receiver position. After trading Diontae Johnson, there are still large questions with the position group outside of George Pickens. The Steelers haven’t been oblivious to this issue. They have actually added several guys to the room since the start of free agency with Scotty Miller, Quez Watkins, Van Jefferson, and Roman Wilson highlighting the list of recent additions.

But most of those guys, along with Calvin Austin III already on the roster, have undersized frames that don’t typically work well on the outside. Wilson appears to be no different and might need some time to grow into his NFL body, according to one Steelers insider.

“Thinner than I thought he would be,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo said in his weekly Steelers chat when asked about Wilson. “He needs to fill out a bit.”

Wilson measured in at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine at 5106, 185 pounds. That is actually very similar to Diontae Johnson coming out of college at 5104, 183 pounds. If the Carolina Panthers’ website is accurate, he has remained pretty stable at that playing weight.

As with most of the undersized receivers in the NFL, the key to success is going to be with route running and/or deep speed to take the top off defenses. Wilson has the potential to provide a little of both with a 4.39-second 40-yard dash time and some pretty smooth route running coming out of college.

But are those traits good enough to immediately make an impact in his rookie season on the outside? Probably not, and while he has the mentality of being a solid blocker in the run game, his lack of size could get in the way of his success in that area until he fills out his frame a bit.

The Steelers do have a new strength and conditioning staff, so if the goal is to gain a little weight, I am sure they will be working with Wilson to make that happen. For now, he may just be a role player in the slot until he can prove that either his athleticism and technique can help him overcome a lack of size, or he puts on a little weight and fills out his frame to stand up to NFL competition.

With several players on the roster who have similar skill sets, it might be an uphill battle to even get snaps in that niche role. Arthur Smith doesn’t typically use his slot receivers all that much, opting for extra tight ends and fullbacks over having an extra receiver on the field.

Wilson isn’t going to transform his body between now and the start of his rookie season, which makes it all the more of a pressing issue to eventually add a WR2 via trade or after roster cutdowns with a veteran option.