Steelers Ola Adeniyi ‘not at all’ surprised by Diontae Johnson’s rookie season

In a recent interview with Ola Adeniyi, the Steelers edge rusher opens up about his time playing with Diontae Johnson and why he’s ‘not at all’ surprised by his impressive rookie season.

Olasunkanmi Adeniyi is a player that you may not know a lot about. After quietly posting impressive numbers during his junior season at Toledo in 2017, Adeniyi surprisingly wound up going undrafted and was ultimately picked up by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

During his rookie preseason, Adeniyi impressed with 9 tackles, 3.0 sack, 2 forced fumbles, 1 tackle for a loss, and 2 quarterback hits, according to ESPN statistics. He was so impressive, in fact, that fans started likening him to former Steelers legend, James Harrison (of course, his stature and number 92 could have aided in that as well).

Recently, I had the privilege of catching up with Adeniyi in an interview via video call. We touched on a number of different topics, including 2019 rookie wide receiver Diontae Johnson.

Having been teammates with Johnson for three years at Toledo, Ola knew what the young wide receiver was capable of. When asked if he was surprised at how well Johnson did during his rookie season, Adeniyi responded with “Not at all.” Here’s what the Steelers edge defender had to say about his former college teammate and current Pittsburgh teammate:

"“Before even the draft was announced, I just had a feeling that we were going to get him and I knew what he could do. I played with him… I’ve seen what he could do. I was never surprised and he wasn’t even surprised either because he knew that he could be a receiver that stepped up. And even at the beginning of the season, he wasn’t even on the starting lineup… He just kept working and just kept grinding and eventually got to display what he could do… I was never surprised at all.”"

Adeniyi was adamant about his position of Diontae Johnson – closing the topic with the words “I was never surprised at all.” There is plenty of reason to trust his judgment.

Ola Adeniyi has known Johnson since playing together with him in Toledo in 2015. Though Johnson didn’t have a breakout college season until 2017 when he recorded 74 catches for 1,278 yards and 13 touchdowns. Last year as a rookie for the Steelers, Johnson quickly raised eyebrows with his ability to create separation and make defenders miss in space. In addition, his 59 receptions led all rookie receivers in 2019.

As for Ola, the third-year outside linebacker has been busy working on his craft. In my interview with him, Adeniyi revealed how he was asked to drop weight upon joining the team. He also shared his personal goals of earning a regular-season sack and making the Pro Bowl, as well as why he could handle a starting role in 2021 if called upon.

We hope to continue to see more of both Diontae Johnson and Ola Adeniyi in 2020. To see the full interview, check out the video below: