The Pittsburgh Steelers are adding to their offense in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Pittsburgh franchise drafted Michigan football wide receiver Roman Wilson with the 84th pick of the draft, per ESPN. Wilson adds another weapon to the arsenal of new team gunslinger Russell Wilson.
Roman Wilson finished his Michigan career with a College Football Playoff championship this past season, under coach Jim Harbaugh. Roman finished his Wolverines’ career with 1,707 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns, per Sports Reference. He spent four seasons in Ann Arbor, and appeared in 46 games.
New faces in Pittsburgh
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and the franchise nearly overhauled the entire offense this offseason. The Steelers brought in experienced quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, as well as a new offensive coordinator. The team is looking for the right spark to get back to the Super Bowl, where it hasn’t been since the 2010 season. Pittsburgh last won a Super Bowl in the 2008 season, when Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu were still around.
The Steelers also parted ways with wide receiver Diontae Johnson this offseason, so the team was in need of some weapons for the new quarterbacks. Roman Wilson will certainly get his chance to fit into the wideout rotation. Wilson made some big plays in his college football career, and played in several big games. With Michigan, he made the College Football Playoff three times in his college career. He also played for an NFL head coach in Harbaugh, who left the school to take the L.A. Chargers job. Prior to coming to Michigan, Harbaugh had also coached the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance.
Steelers’ NFL Draft picks
The Steelers have almost exclusively focused on offense in the first three rounds of the draft. Along with Roman Wilson, the team is building up their offensive line. The team took two offensive linemen in the first two rounds of the draft, with offensive tackle Troy Fautanu and center Zach Frazier. Fautanu played his college football at Washington, where he was part of a team this past season that lost the CFP championship to Michigan. Frazier played at West Virginia, anchoring an offensive line that won nine games this past season and a Duke’s Mayo Bowl championship over North Carolina.
Pittsburgh decided to change it up near the end of the third round of the draft, taking linebacker Payton Wilson from North Carolina State. The team is trying to rebound from a disappointing 2023 season, which came to an end at the hands of the Buffalo Bills in the AFC playoffs. The Steelers’ offensive changes will certainly be something to watch this coming season, as the team tries to overtake Baltimore and Cleveland in the competitive AFC North Division.
Pittsburgh also has a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft, as well as two sixth rounders.
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