Diontae Johnson Key to Setting Tone for Steelers
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Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve seen the catch that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson made last weekend against the Cincinnati Bengals. It was a catch of the year candidate despite it going largely unnoticed for a few days until the NFL’s Instagram account posted the clip.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, his involvement leading up to that catch wasn’t enough for the Steelers as their offense never really got going despite having a short field for many of their first-half possessions.
Johnson finished the game with 55 yards after catching seven of his 12 targets. 25 of those came on the sideline, tip-toe grab.
General Manager Omar Khan signed his young veteran wide receiver to a deal that makes him a Steeler through the 2024 season. With Johnson on the last year of his rookie deal, he was able to secure another two seasons of Johnson on top of this one. Johnson will make $27 million guaranteed.
All of that would make you think the Steelers would like to see Johnson a bit more involved a bit more often.
A lot of Johnson’s damage in his first three seasons have come when he is given the ball within five or ten yards of the line of scrimmage and allowed to make the play with the ball in his hands. With a limited Ben Roethlisberger last season, Johnson had his most explosive season when he racked up 1,161 yards and eight touchdowns.
The former Toledo Rocket posted 527 yards after the catch which ranked eighth in the NFL. The names above him are Cooper Kupp, Deebo Samuel, Ja’Marr Chase, Austin Ekeler, Devante Adams, Chris Godwin, and Travis Kelce. Clearly, that puts Johnson in elite company.
That type of explosiveness with the ball in your hands is not something you can teach so the Steelers would be wise to continue feeding Johnson the ball. It just so happens that much of the Steelers’ offense looks like it will be predicated with shorter passes and the occasional touch of downfield throws with Mitch Trubisky at the helm.
Chase Claypool has proven to be a deep threat despite his struggles to stay on his feet after catching the long ball. George Pickens certainly has the ability to take the top off the defense if Trubisky’s deep ball accuracy allows that to happen. Johnson can be the slasher.
The New England Patriots are on tap for the Steelers this weekend. Bill Belichick has always been a top-tier coach but he seems to always have his team exceptionally ready for Mike Tomlin and Co. so beating the Patriots' defense won’t be easy.
Jonathan Jones and Jalen Mills represent the starting cornerbacks for New England with Kyle Dugger and Devin McCourty blanketing them over top.
The defense overall doesn’t sport top-quality defensive names so the Steelers have a real chance to exploit that. This isn’t the same feared team that the Patriots have put out there for the past two decades. It is a very beatable defense with a coach that will mask some of their deficiencies. Johnson can make them pay.
The Steelers running game never really got going last week. If the same happens when they line up on Sunday, the Steelers could use the “Get Johnson the ball and let him do his thing” method. His elusiveness and ability to make tacklers miss is reminiscent of Antonio Brown’s prime and that’s why the Steelers paid him as handsomely as they did.
The first home game of the season against a hall-of-fame head coach will certainly make for a good game. The Steelers would love to start 2-0 on the season, especially without their star linebacker T.J. Watt. Feeding Diontae Johnson the ball near the line of scrimmage early and often could help them do just that.
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