The Pittsburgh Steelers settled their top two receiver spots in the offseason — DK Metcalf and free-agent addition Michael Pittman Jr. — which leaves one real position battle in the pass-catching corps when camp opens at Saint Vincent College on July 29: Roman Wilson against rookie Germie Bernard for the No. 3 job.
Steelers Depot’s camp preview frames it as a two-horse race, with Wilson holding the inside track — one beat writer’s assessment relayed there is that Wilson “will clearly be WR3 when camp starts.” The question is whether he keeps it. Bernard, the second-round pick taken 47th overall out of Alabama, arrives with a college résumé of 114 catches for 1,656 yards and nine touchdowns over his final two seasons, and Athlon Sports reports the two spent part of the offseason training together with route-running coach Route God — a detail that says plenty about how seriously both are treating the competition.
Wilson’s case rests on experience and scheme familiarity; his risk is a track record of availability. The 2024 third-rounder lost most of his rookie year to an injury suffered on the first day of padded practices, and camp is precisely where his hold on the job has slipped before. The first padded practice in Latrobe comes August 3. That date matters more for Wilson than anyone on the roster.
There is a right way to win this kind of job, and it is not flash — it is being where the quarterback expects you to be, every rep, from the first practice to the last preseason series. With Aaron Rodgers entering his second and likely final season in Pittsburgh, the receiver who earns his trust fastest in August will see it repaid in targets in October. Precision and availability are the whole audition.
For fantasy drafters, neither name belongs on redraft boards outside deep leagues — the third receiver in a Rodgers offense that also features Metcalf, Pittman and the running game is a thin target tree. But Bernard is a legitimate dynasty rookie-draft target whose value jumps if he overtakes Wilson by September, and Wilson becomes a free waiver add if he simply stays on the field through camp. The August 3 padded practice is the first real signal.
