As the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to navigate their way through the 2025 NFL season, there were two missing keys to their 34-32 win against the New York Jets.

Wide receiver Roman Wilson and running back Kaleb Johnson.

This isn’t Wilson’s first go around with Tomlin. He’s in his second season and only played one game last season, where he didn’t accomplish much. 

But the calling card on Wilson, the 2024 third round draft pick out of Michigan, was that he was having a tremendous training camp.

Tomlin offered high praise for the young receiver prior to the exciting Week 1 game:

“We've been really excited about Roman Wilson in team development, and so I'm less concerned about who occupies the No. 2 position.”

Throughout the summer, the talk after acquiring D.K. Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks, was that Wilson was in line to earn a spot at the WR2 position. But over the course of the week, something must’ve changed.

Whatever excitement Tomlin had about Wilson, it’s clear it wasn’t that overwhelming. 

Wilson only played 10 offensive snaps during the game, despite making his first career start. Standing aside from him was Ben Skowronek who played 10 snaps and Scotty Miller who had played nine.

Ahead of him was Calvin Austin, who figured to be a vital piece to this offense after last season, and tight end Jonnu Smith.

Johnson, on the other hand, clearly rubbed Tomlin the wrong way, as he had only played two offensive snaps. Not only that, he was the featured kick returner, and fumbled a kick early on that Pittsburgh ultimately recovered.

The running back from Iowa was also a third round pick, and the only time he received a carry, he lost two yards on the play.

It was reported that Johnson wasn’t having the best training camp. After a supreme junior season rushing for over 1,500 yards, many believed Johnson would be one of the better running backs to come out of the 2025 class.

But during camp, Tomlin sent a pointed message to the rookie back:

"I just want to see him trust himself more," he said. "I want to see him play more instinctively, trust his talents. And that’s reasonable to expect between the first experience and the second experience."

Ahead of Johnson, it was expected that Jaylen Warren would be the featured running back in Steel City, but Kenneth Gainwell also received a decent amount of snaps, and had seven carries for 19 yards.

Tomlin being harsh on young players is nothing new, but even after a win, Steeler fans are wondering when they’ll get to see the youth movement rise.