Pittsburgh Steelers rookie wide receiver Diontae Johnson has now won his first NFL award as the third-round draft pick out of Toledo was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 14 on Wednesday.
Johnson had quite a game this past Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals and it included him returning a punt 85-yards for a touchdown in the first half. It was the longest punt return in Steelers team history and the first one for a touchdown since 2015.
Not only did Johnson have a touchdown via a punt return, he also caught a two-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Devlin Hodges in the second half. And in doing so Johnson became the first Steelers’ rookie with a punt return for a touchdown and touchdown reception in the same game since wide receiver Louis Lipps last accomplished the feat against the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 19, 1984.
According to Zebra Technologies and Next Gen Stats, Johnson covered 126.9 yards of total distance in the 85-yard return. It was the most distance by a single player in Week 14 and 4th most distance for a player this season.
Johnson finished Sunday’s game against the Cardinals as the team’s leading receiver with six receptions for 60 yards. For the season, Johnson now has 42 receptions for 483 yards and four touchdowns and he leads the team in receptions and touchdown catches.
