Pittsburgh Steelers: Meet the pick, WR Diontae Johnson

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost a pretty good wide receiver you may have heard of this offseason by the name of Antonio Brown. They worked to replace him by signing Donte Moncrief and then drafting receiver in the third round.

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafting can be a little unpredictable at times after round one. This year was no different when they took Diontae Johnson in round 3 at pick 66 overall.

This guy was not really on my radar heading into the draft but when the pick was made, I was intrigued as to just who the team was getting in him. I threw on some tape and let me tell you, I was very excited by what I saw.

Johnson is a smaller receiver but don’t let that make you think he can’t play outside. He seemed to play bigger than his size would indicate.

Johnson’s 40-yard dash time was a topic of discussion among fans after he was taken but the tape shows that time to be irrelevant. This guy can run just fine and has quickness and burst to get by defenders both off the line and in the open after the catch.

The first tape I threw on was his game against Miami (FL) to see how he handled playing against a power five school. He handled it very well, and then some!

Johnson put up six catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns against the Hurricanes and looked great doing it. He showed great release off the line of scrimmage and ability to high point his catches.

I put on the 2017 MAC championship game against Akron to see him in a high stakes game and he wowed me yet again. He put up nine catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

Johnson showed an impressive release off the line of scrimmage when being pressed. He went with a stutter step to inside burst a lot and it was not broken so there was no need to fix it.

He had a few catches where he showed great control of his body in the air to adjust and make the catch while high-pointing the football.

Overall I loved what I saw from him offensively. He needs to work on ball security as he did cough it up once in each game I watched.

Johnson also offers return ability as he notched four return touchdowns in his career, two punt and kick returns a piece. This will help the Steelers have some versatility on how to use him early on to get him on the field and making plays.

The Steelers surprised a lot of people with this particular player but they have a good idea of drafting receivers. Some fans hated the pick of Johnson but forget this team has drafted Emmanuel Sanders, Santonio Holmes, Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Martavis Bryant (although he had off-field issues, he is very talented).

I will let the Steelers take whatever receiver they like because their track record speaks for itself. After watching the tape, I am excited about this pick and I think Steeler Nation will soon love him.