Steelers 2-a-days: a star turn for Diontae Johnson? Anthony Johnson out to crack team
Editor’s note: Leading up to a unique Pittsburgh Steelers training camp staged at Heinz Field this year, the Tribune-Review will be running through the team’s 90-man roster, assessing each player’s outlook for the 2020 season. The breakdown will go through the roster, in mostly alphabetical order, two per day, between June 9 and July 23, a day originally planned to be reporting day for players to camp. (Contract data courtesy spotrac.com)
WR ANTHONY JOHNSON
Experience: Spent last season on Chargers practice squad after going undrafted
Contract status: $610,000 cap hit in 2020, under contractual control for at least four years
2020 outlook: Mike Tomlin repeatedly refers to a mental file he keeps of players that the Steelers evaluate during the draft process. Even years later, that comes in handy. So when Anthony Johnson was on the market in January, the Steelers added him via a reserve/future deal. Johnson had a prolific career at the University of Buffalo, and at one point was projected as a high draft pick. The NFL’s official website had him rated as fourth-rounder in April 2019, but he went undrafted and spent the preseason with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after signing as a free agent.
Bottom line: Johnson is 6-foot-2, 209 pounds, and he reportedly has run a sub-4.5 in the 40-yard dash. Johnson had 133 catches for 2,367 yards and 25 touchdowns in two college seasons. There are tools there, but there also must be a reason he was not drafted and since has been cut twice. Still, Johnson is a prime candidate for the practice squad.
WR DIONTAE JOHNSON
Experience: Second season
Contract status: $972,946 cap hit in 2020, signed through 2022
2020 outlook: Johnson has become an almost too-trendy, everywhere-you-look choice in the NFL and fantasy sports communities to be a “breakout star” this coming season. And with good reason. He ended 2019 as the Steelers’ No. 1 receiving target and their leader in catches. As a rookie from a Mid-American Conference program who was a third-round pick and played through a groin injury that ultimately required surgery, that’s no small feat. Johnson was taken with the draft choice that was the centerpiece of the return from the Oakland Raiders in the trade for Antonio Brown. Johnson in all likelihood never will be as productive as Brown — who had the best five-year receiving stretch in NFL history — but he is showing he has a good chance of succeeding Brown as the Steelers’ No. 1 receiver.
Bottom line: Johnson is almost the same size as Brown, he has similar Florida roots and MAC pedigree, and they share the attribute of quick feet. And after a 59-catch, 680-yard, five-touchdown rookie season in which he peaked in December, there is legitimate reason to believe the hype is real. If Ben Roethlisberger and JuJu Smith-Schuster are healthy in 2020, Johnson could be a featured player in a prolific passing offense.
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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