Diontae Johnson combines skillset, work ethic, maturity to emerge as Steelers’ No. 1 WR

Naturally more introverted and a self-proclaimed quiet type, Diontae Johnson is far from as potentially polarizing as the man he effectively was traded for, Antonio Brown.

Johnson doesn’t carry the kind of divisive target on his back the way Brown does these days, but Johnson is frequently targeted — by Ben Roethlisberger passes.

Three seasons into his career, Johnson is the successor to Brown as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ No. 1 wide receiver.

“He’s crazy talented,” Roethlisberger said. “The things he can do to get open, his quickness, his speed, his short area bursts and things like that.

“He’s a guy that busts his butt. … He puts the work in, and it’s really showing.”

It certainly has over the three-game stretch that preceded Thursday’s 8:20 p.m. game at the Minnesota Vikings. Over no prior three-game stretch had Johnson scored three touchdowns, and only once before (in mid-2020) had he posted as many catches (24) or yards (301).

It was punctuated by eight receptions for 105 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns during Sunday’s 20-19 victory against the Baltimore Ravens.

Diontae Johnson is left open for the 29-yard TD! #HereWeGo

????: #BALvsPIT on CBS
????: NFL app pic.twitter.com/hvfZ05kh3B

— NFL (@NFL) December 5, 2021

It could have been a career game for effort if he corralled what would have been a 35-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger during the final minute of the second half. Johnson, by his own admission, would have “folded” had he committed such a costly gaffe last year, when he was briefly benched after a spate of drops.

This season, he’s in a good enough place that he responded with what probably was the best second half of his career: seven catches on eight targets for 91 yards and two touchdowns.

“He doesn’t go into the tank. He comes back and just makes plays and keeps going,” Roethlisberger said. “I think that spoke volumes about who he is and his growth and maturity in such a young football career.”

5 Things with @TribJoeRutter: Unlike 2020, dropped passes a rarity for #Steelers WR Diontae Johnson this season https://t.co/5mAjliaBuP

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) December 7, 2021

Johnson clearly has earned Roethlisberger’s trust, and Big Ben is throwing passes to him at a rate unlike any other over the quarterback’s 18-year career, aside from Brown.

After getting thrown to 144 times last season, Johnson is on pace for 174 targets in 16 games this season. Brown is the only other receiver Roethlisberger has sought out that much. Not even Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress or Santonio Holmes had two seasons with that many targets by Steelers quarterbacks.

“Tae has consistently, over the year and in this season, been that guy for us,” offensive coordinator Matt Canada said.

In deference to the Steelers’ other receivers, Canada declined to label Johnson as a “No. 1 receiver.” But the numbers don’t lie for a team that hasn’t had a clear Alpha in the WR room since the March 2019 trade of Brown to the Raiders for a package whose centerpiece was a third-round draft choice the Steelers used on Johnson.

Johnson almost has twice as many catches as any other wide receiver on the team (76, with Chase Claypool second at 39). His six touchdown receptions are twice as many as the other Steelers’ wide receivers combined. Johnson has 44% of the combined 2,054 receiving yards the seven wide receivers have accumulated this season.

“It’s just motivation for me to get better, get me prepared for next season,” Diontae Johnson said. “So I just try not to think about it and keep working.”https://t.co/FgenlRDirJ

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) August 3, 2021

“We’re appreciative of his growth and development,” coach Mike Tomlin said, “but I don’t think anyone’s surprised by it. As a matter of fact, we expected it and we needed it.”

The Steelers have needed it, in part, because of a season-ending injury to JuJu Smith-Schuster and two shorter-term injuries to Claypool. The team perhaps expected Johnson’s increased development because they see the work he does.

Johnson regularly is one of the first players on and last players off the practice field. He often credits assistant equipment manager Lou Badle for putting in time, throwing hundreds of balls at him to catch — and not just footballs.

“After practice, he’s catching 500 extra passes,” safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said, “and then he’s catching with the tennis balls.”

Fitzpatrick, an All-Pro, said he was inspired to do the same — both the extra work, and the use of the smaller, softer ball.

“It’s a different surface (on the ball), a smaller surface,” Johnson explained. “It makes you focus more. And once I get a football, then it comes easy.”

It’s all seeming to come easy enough for Johnson, and the Steelers have to be giving serious consideration to giving him a big-money contract extension over the next nine months. Johnson has one year remaining on his rookie contract, and although the Steelers traditionally shy away from giving second multiyear contracts to wide receivers, they did so for Ward and Brown.

Johnson’s work ethic, continued maturity and unique, eye-popping quick feet appear to have made him their first true No. 1 wide receiver since those two.

“People are going to have tough years or tough games, it happens to the best of them,” Johnson said. “It’s just how you respond. I put in the work the whole offseason and continue to do it throughout the whole season, and it’s been showing in the games.”

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