Michigan football wasn’t exactly an aerial attack offense, but when J.J. McCarthy needed to make a big play and find a reliable target, more often than not, Roman Wilson was him.
Wilson led the Wolverines with 48 catches for 789 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023, which included some highlight reel plays — such as the pinned against the opponent’s helmet touchdown vs. Nebraska or his snag the ball from the air on the final drive in regulation against Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
Though not spoken of in the same light as some more prolific receivers, such as Rome Odunze or Marvin Harrison Jr., Wilson was ninth nationally with his 12 touchdowns — just one behind Odunze and ahead of other standouts such as Texas’ Adonai Mitchell.
In fact, Wilson might be a hidden gem in the 2024 NFL draft class, which is exactly how ESPN’s Matt Miller sees it. On a conference call on Tuesday, Miller shared his thoughts about the standout receiver from Hawaii.
“I’m such a big Roman Wilson fan, and he has started this process with that great week at the Senior Bowl kind of bumping his stock,” Miller said. “I went back and looked and at one point I had him ranked No. 50 overall. And I moved him down — I’m not exactly sure why I moved him down. But he’s creeping back up for me where I think he could be in that middle-second tier round, especially if we see a lot of wide receivers go in late round one. Roman Wilson is that player that could surprise some people and slide into that top 50.”
Wilson already started opening eyes in the aforementioned Reese’s Senior Bowl, making more highlight-reel catches and showcasing his speed. Once he gets in front of more scouts at the NFL scouting combine next week, there’s a good chance he could move into a solid Day 2 pick or maybe even creep into Round 1.