Roman Wilson injury scare proves Steelers made a mistake this offseason

The Steelers were busy this offseason, making numerous moves, in free agency and on the trade market. The team made some splashes, bringing in big names such as Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, and Patrick Queen, among others.

However, despite the heavy activity from the Steelers' front office, the Steelers did very little to improve the wide receiver position. After recent news from Training Camp, it appears this may have been a mistake.

Roman Wilson carted off the field during practice

While the Steelers didn't do much to address the wide receiver position this offseason, the one significant move they did make was using a third-round selection on Roman Wilson out of Michigan in the NFL Draft.

Wilson has impressed thus far in camp, and his toughness, willingness to block, and make contested catches across the middle of the field made him a perfect fit with the Steelers. However, during practice, Wilson was carted off the field with an ankle injury after getting injured on a jet sweep play.

While the severity of the injury is not yet known, this is not good news for the Steelers. The depth chart at the position is thin as it is, losing Wilson would be a massive blow to the offense. Hopefully, the injury isn't serious, but regardless, this begs the question of why the Steelers didn't do more at the position this offseason.

The Steelers didn't do enough to address the WR position this offseason

The Steelers entered the offseason with a glaring need at the wide receiver position. When the team traded Diontae Johnson to Carolina, that need only became more dire. Instead of ramping up the importance of the need, the Steelers only made one significant addition to the position.

Regardless of whether the Johnson trade was the right move or not, the Steelers made a mistake. If they preferred Jackson due to personality issues with Johnson, then that is fine, as they addressed another need and made sure that one was shored up. However, after trading Johnson away, it should have become important to add two reliable receivers to the team. Instead, the team chose to only make one big addition, while making smaller moves to fill out the depth chart.

The addition of Van Jefferson was fine for what he was signed to do, serve as a big-bodied depth receiver, who can come in and help out in the run game. However, in the modern NFL with three wide receiver sets so prevalent, he and Calvin Austin were both going to have to play a lot as it is behind Wilson and George Pickens, even if there was no injury.

Luckily for the Steelers, Arthur Smith runs a lot of two-tight end sets which should help lessen the blow of the thin depth chart. However, if the team falls behind that philosophy will have to shift, and the Steelers don't have the bodies at the wide receiver position to come back in games.

Hopefully, the Wilson injury isn't serious, and the Steelers avoided a serious blow. Either way though, the Steelers have made a mistake in their failure to add enough to that position, and signing or trading for another player at the position should happen before the start of the season.