Within the fan base of the Pittsburgh Steelers, no player is more divisive than wide receiver Diontae Johnson.
It seems that fans either hate him or love him with no in between.
The good news for Johnson, entering Year 6 in the NFL, is that he’s held in a much, much higher regard nationally than he is locally.
Already in elite company when it comes to his target numbers since 2019 with 552 targets in the last four years, making him one of just eight players in the NFL with 500+ targets in that timespan, Johnson continues to earn praise for his route running and overall WR1 abilities, this time coming from Reception Perception’s Matt Harmon.
Harmon charted every route run by Johnson in 2022 and came away rather impressed — again — with Johnson’s body of work. When it comes to man, zone and press-man coverage that Johnson faced in 2022, his success rate against those types of coverages put him in the 84th percentile or higher. Again, elite company.
“Simply put: Johnson is one of the best separators in the NFL. He doesn’t just fall into a massive target share every year. He earns that volume because he is almost always open,” Harmon writes. “There’s no route Diontae Johnson can’t run. There’s no area of the field he can’t dominate as a route runner.”
The numbers from Harmon certainly check out with that statement.
Johnson ran 47.7% of his routes in 2022 against man coverage and had a success rate of 76.1%. Against zone, Johnson ran 52.3% of his routes, and had a success rate of 83.7%. Johnson saw press coverage 27.4% of the time in 2022 and had a success rate of 77.9%. All elite numbers from the clear-cut No. 1 receiver in the NFL.
While Harmon was effusive in his praise of Johnson, he was also unafraid to point out his flaws, too. Namely the drops issues that pop up at inopportune times, along with the issues running backwards trying to search for yards after catch with the football in his hands searching for that explosive play.
Make no mistake though: Johnson is an elite-level receiver who deserves his praise.
In Harmon’s charting, Johnson posted a near-green success chart for the second straight year, just missing out on green-level success rates on the nine route and the flat route. Everything else, Johnson was terrific with success rates. According to the charting, the two routes Johnson ran the most in 2022 were the slant and curl route at 17.4% each.
On slants, Johnson succeeded at an 85.7% clip. However, on curls he was even better, posting a success rate of 89.8%. Johnson was also great at digs and out routes, winning at success rates of 89.7% (out) and 92.3% (dig).
Seeing the numbers and the overall success Johnson had in 2022, along with the success he’s had in seasons prior to last year, it’s relatively easy for Harmon to be a big believer in Johnson moving forward.
“Diontae Johnson just brings so much good to the table and is a true alpha receiver. He lines up like a traditional X-receiver, runs a No. 1 wideout route tree and most importantly, separates at an alpha receiver level. Take some of the bad with the immense good in his game. Players that run routes like he does just don’t fail and will always continue to command targets,” Harmon writes. “I’d not only continue to bet Johnson remains on the top of the target totem pole as the No. 1 receiver in Pittsburgh, I have to believe he turns in a truly great statistical season at some point. Perhaps that’s this year if Matt Canada continues making necessary tweaks and Kenny Pickett takes a leap. Always bet on route runners.”
He gets open at an elite rate. That matters. With a full offseason under his belt with Pickett and hopefully in an offense in Year 3 under Canada that is opened up a bit more in the passing game, Johnson should be able to get back to his 2021 level of play. He’s a high-caliber receiver overall.
