Joel Klatt defends Roman Wilson as legitimate, 'undervalued' prospect in NFL Draft

Receiver is a premium position in the 2024 NFL Draft both in its top prospects as well as its depth. That’s evidenced by a player like Michigan’s Roman Wilson being further down draft boards than some, such as Joel Klatt, think he should be.

Klatt listed Wilson amongst his list of prospects that he’d defend during an episode of his show earlier this month ahead of this draft. He thinks Wilson should justify a Day 2 selection because of what he showed in college and how he tested over the last few months.

“I think he could be a second-rounder,” said Klatt. “He might be an early third-round. I’m not totally sure but, again, it’s going to depend on how fast a lot of these wide receivers go.”

“This wide receiver is from Michigan and didn’t get a ton of opportunities, I would call it. Roman Wilson from Michigan is a guy that nobody talks about, is quietly generating I would say a significant amount of buzz in the draft process via his performance at the Senior Bowl, his testing at the combine,” Klatt said. “It’s going very well for him. Because of that, I think he may have gotten himself into a second-round pick.”

Klatt gets that it’s not the usual assessment for someone who had numbers like Wilson did as a senior in Ann Arbor. However, he noted how it wasn’t his fault considering how the Wolverines play on offense, which is excused considering that approach helped them to win a national title.

“Now, you could say, ‘Well he only had 48 catches this season’. I would say, ‘yeah, well 12 of them were touchdowns.’ Like, the guy knows how to score,” Klatt said. “Then I would also say he was – and I struggle to use this word. He was a – I don’t want to say victim – but he was a product is the better word. I’m going to say he was a product of the Michigan system. I don’t mean that in a negative way. It’s not like they were just three yards and a cloud of dust because they did things, threw the ball to him in special ways, and designed things for him.”

“Roman’s a really good player and no one knows it. Michigan had a very specific philosophy of how they were going to win. J.J. McCarthy is in this boat as well. He is a product of the Michigan way. Again, it’s not a bad thing because that’s how they won a national championship,” explained Klatt. “They checked their ego at the door. J.J McCarthy and Roman Wilson could have sat there and said, ‘Hey, we’re elite players’. Roman Wilson could have easily been an 85, 90-catch guy for 1,000-plus yards and 15 to 20 touchdowns in any other program in the country. He’s that good – trust me. That’s why I believe in him as, what I would say, an undervalued prospect in this process.”

During his career, Wilson only had 107 catches for 1,707 yards and 20 touchdowns. 48 of those came last fall for 789 yards and 12 scores, all of which were career-highs. That averages out to just 26.8 catches per year for 426.8 yards and five touchdowns.

With that said, it’s, again, not for a lack of substance from Wilson as a player. He just sacrificed and played for an offense that rushed the ball at an average of nine times more per game than they did pass over his time with the maize & blue.

Wilson might not have had as much opportunity to show his skills as other receivers catching passes across the country. That doesn’t take anything away from him, though, as Klatt sees him having more success once he gets into the NFL.

“Roman Wilson is a guy that I would plant a flag on,” said Klatt. “I think he’s going to be really good.”