5 Pittsburgh Steelers with skyrocketing stock entering Week 10

Steelers WR Diontae Johnson

After being one of the most inconsistent and frustrating wide receivers in the league last season, I don’t think many would have expected that Diontae Johnson would have stepped up as well as he has in 2021. This no doubt has to do with how much time Johnson spent putting in the extra work this summer, as he was typically the first player on the practice field and the last one to leave.

Needless to say, his hard work is paying off. Pro Football Reference hasn’t credited Johnson with a single dropped pass this year despite earning 69 targets in 7 games played (he missed Week 3 with an injury).

Going up against a talented young cornerback in Jaylon Johnson, Diontae was able to catch 5 of 5 catchable targets for 56 yards — including a 22-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter that helped put the Steelers in field goal range for Chris Boswell to take the lead.

Johnson also had a few nice grabs in traffic and drew a pass interference deep down the field (albeit on a very questionable call). With a few more quality targets per game, he could start to establish himself as a true number one receiver in the NFL. The arrow is pointed up.