Receiver, or lack thereof, has been an ongoing focus this season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. One of the issues has been the unavailability of rookie receiver Roman Wilson, who recently suffered a setback in what has been a season so far that has been marred by injuries.
Wilson, a third-round pick out of Michigan, was inactive for the season's first five games as he was working his way back from a high ankle sprain that was sustained during the first week of training camp. Wilson made his long-awaited regular-season debut in Pittsburgh's Week 6 win over the Raiders, but he was inactive during last Sunday night's win over the Jets after he injured his hamstring during practice last week.
Wilson reportedly aggravated the injury during Wednesday's practice and was held out of Thursday's practice as Pittsburgh has begun preparing for Monday night's showdown with the New York Giants.
After trading Diontae Johnson this offseason, the Steelers were obviously expecting Wilson to help fill that void, along with No. 1 receiver George Pickens and fellow veterans Calvin Austin III and Van Jefferson. But Wilson's injuries have prevented him from doing that so far.
"And as we've talked repeatedly in this setting, Roman needs to work for me to really consider him," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said this week when asked about Wilson's lack of playing time. "His participation got compromised some last week. And so, really, once it got compromised, I moved on."
Wilson's continued absence has only increased the rumblings about the Steelers' desire to acquire a receiver before the trade deadline. One reason, however, why Pittsburgh probably hasn't pulled the trigger on such a trade yet is the play of its current receiving corps and the impact Russell Wilson can have on that group now that he is under center.
During Wilson's season debut against the Jets, Pickens went over 100 yards receiving, Austin caught a 36-yard pass that set up a score, Jefferson caught his first touchdown of the season and tight ends Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington combined to catch 6 of 7 targets for 87 yards.
Based on Sunday night, it appears that the Steelers do have enough weapons to get the job done on most weeks. But depth remains an issue, and that is the reason why Pittsburgh will continue to explore the possibility to acquiring a wideout before the Nov. 5 deadline.
