3 reasons why Steelers should finally favor Washington over Johnson

Without a shred of a doubt, James Washington is far more clutch than Diontae Johnson.

I’m not saying this to trash Johnson. Yet, all of his biggest games and biggest moments, were when the Steelers were clearly winning the game. He only has two 100-yard-receiving games and they were against Jacksonville and Cincinnati. For a run-after-catch specialist as elusive as him, you would want him to be a guy that is initiating the big wins and not just participating in them.

The offense relies on Johnson too much at this point. The scariest stat that proves how much more effective Washington has been, is that with just over 1/3 as many targets as Johnson,  38 to Johnson’s 91, he has found the endzone 3 times in 2020. Johnson has only found the endzone 4 times. Washington has not had the chance to get into a rhythm in any game this season. He just comes off the bench and scores a touchdown or catches a first down. He had the biggest catch of the game in Week 12 by making a crucial 1st down reception in triple coverage in the final minutes of the game to keep Baltimore’s offense off of the field.

Coming into Week 12 Washington had 35 targets. 16 of those targets resulted in either a 1st down or a touchdown. 45% of the time he was targeted resulted in a first down or a touchdown. Diontae Johnson had 81 targets coming into Week 12. 38% of those resulted in a touchdown or first down.

It has become clear that James Washington is a little more ready than Diontae Johnson for the big moments in 2020. I would trust Washington with a game-deciding target over Johnson at any point the rest of the season. He isn’t even in the same realm as Johnson when it comes to making guys miss, yet that doesn’t matter if Johnson can’t catch the ball, or hold onto it. Washington has shown the ability to break tackles at a decent rate, so his run-after-catch ability isn’t really in question here anyway. It is finally time for the Steelers to give Washington a bigger role in this offense, and it should come at the reduction of Johnson’s role.