Steelers don’t have a WR we should trust with a big contract extension

Diontae Johnson

Diontae Johnson can be a joy to watch at times. He is incredibly quick-twitched and is as slippery as they come after the catch. In 2019, he led all NFL receivers in separation per target and he can be a quarterback’s best friend with how easily he can get open. Unfortunately, Johnson was also one of the most inconsistent receivers in the league throughout his first two NFL seasons.

There are times when he looks like a legitimate ‘number one’ receiver, but those glimpses are too few and far between that we should be questioning whether he’s ever going to get it all together at this point. Last year, he was even benched for a time being in the second half of the season due to his concerningly high drop rate on what were mostly very catchable targets.

Of the group, maybe Johnson has the best chance to turn things around and show why he’s the receiver on this team who deserves to earn a big contract extension when his time is done. However, I wouldn’t count on it at this point. Johnson just wasn’t very efficient at all when targeted last season, and he will need to improve his consistency by leaps and bounds if he even wants to join the discussion as a wide receiver the Steelers could potentially fork up good money when his rookie contract comes to an end after the 2022 season.