Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson is on the rise

Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson lit up the Cardinals on Sunday. Here’s why the young receiver is on the verge of breaking out as a rookie.

The Steelers bested the Cardinals this past Sunday on the west coast. While the defense deserves a large portion of the credit for the win (as they typically do), my game ball goes to rookie wide receiver, Diontae Johnson.

Johnson had by far his best game to date. He gave Pittsburgh an early lead with an electrifying 85-yard punt return for a touchdown. But the rookie’s impact stretched beyond special teams. Though 6 catches for 60 yards and a touchdown doesn’t seem like a lot at first glance, Johnson’s clearly elevated his performance from weeks past.

Against the Browns just a week ago, Johnson had a game he would like to forget – catching just 1 of 5 targets for 14 yards. He also may have been responsible for an interception thrown by Devlin Hodges where it appeared Johnson stopped running his route.

In just one week’s time, the rookie drastically turned his play around. James Washington has been the most reliable receiver for the steelers over the past 5 weeks, but it was the rookie who was the star of the show on Sunday.

While Washington and JuJu Smith-Schuster are bigger-bodied receivers who can go up and get the ball in traffic, Johnson is a shiftier receiver who creates much more separation at the top of his routes (much in the mold of Emmanuel Sanders).

As a rookie 3rd round draft choice out of Toledo, growing pains are to be expected. But I’m not sure if anyone predicted him to perform this well so early into his career.

The Steelers have had some bad luck this season. In addition to losing Ben Roethlisberger and Stephon Tuitt for the season, Smith-Schuster and James Conner have been banged up for much of the year and have missed extended time.

Fortunately, players like Johnson and Washington are stepping up for their young quarterback and giving the Steelers the ability to keep the chains moving on offense.

Let’s face it: Pittsburgh’s offense is far from a finished product, and they will have to improve if they stand a chance at winning any playoff games this January (assuming they make it that far).

Still, Johnson’s sudden emergence is a pleasant surprise to an offense in desperate need of play-makers. Let’s hope he continues this progression as the season nears its end.