Promising Steelers rookie WR gets help from unlikely player

PITTSBURGH - Roman Wilson did not practice for nearly six weeks while rehabbing a high ankle sprain that he suffered on July 30, the first day of padded practice for the Steelers. Since suffering the injury, Wilson has missed weeks of installation, the entire preseason , and two weeks of the regular season.

Now, in Week 3, it feels like Wilson might be on the cusp of returning to the lineup. For a rookie like Wilson, returning after all that time means that he has a long way to go to becoming a meaningful contributor.

BETTING:

Still, Wilson spent his time on the sidelines learning. Whenever he was not watching practice film and learning the playbook and installs in-depth, he watched wide receivers from around the league. So, who did Wilson focus on while injured?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Mike Evans. Wilson referred to Evans, likely a future Hall of Famer, as 'underrated', but it is an odd player to watch for Wilson. Wilson is a slot wide receiver standing at 5-foot-10 and having run a 4.36 40-yard dash.

Evans is 6-foot-5 and ran a 4.53 40-yard dash coming out of college. They feel like polar opposites, but Wilson wants to learn from him.

"I've been watching a lot of Mike Evans," Wilson said. "I wanted to study him, one of the more underrated players in the game. He's been productive for so long, so I wanted to take things from him."

Wilson needed to improve his running route coming out of college, but he was always an extremely physical player, even for his size. Evans is now for his physicality and surprising quickness in his routes and releases for his size.

So, there are elements of Evans' game that Wilson can delve into and try to take nuggets from when he is back on the field. This could be the week Wilson finally returns and makes his NFL debut after being sidelined for so long.