Often, in order for good runs to become great runs, like RB Jaylen Warren’s 62-yard scamper Saturday, there has to be some downfield blocking. On Warren’s run, there was. WR Diontae Johnson offered a key block to spring Warren down the left sideline, putting him 1v1 with the safety for the score.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Johnson said he knows he can block. He’s just focused on showing it more consistently.
“Coach T [has been] getting on me a little bit about my blocking downfield. So I kinda wanted to show him I can block,” he said via Steelers.com. “It’s something I try to work on during training camp this season and last year as well. So it’s not like I can’t block. I just gotta put it on film.”
Johnson’s block on CB Dane Jackson gave Warren a runway down the left side, outrunning safety Jordan Poyer for the final 30 yards into the end zone. Pittsburgh’s lack explosive runs are in part due to a lack of explosiveness in the backfield. Najee Harris doesn’t run a 4.44, but tight ends and wide receivers often are the catalysts to explosive plays in the run game.
Here’s another look at the play. Johnson is to the top of the screen, doing the dirty work to help make this play possible.
For 2023, the Steelers have a solid wide receiver blocking room. George Pickens is one of the league’s most aggressive blockers who will knock down unsuspecting corners. Adding Allen Robinson II in the slot gives them a JuJu Smith-Schuster-esque player in that department, something they didn’t have a year ago after dealing away WR Chase Claypool (who never lived up to expectations as a blocker, anyway). And Johnson is correct; he’s capable of blocking. He just has to show it more often.
“It’s just me just wanting to do it,” Johnson said. “Sometimes it’s just, I can do it and that’s the mindset I always have. So it may look like I don’t do it sometimes, but I do.”
Despite Kenny Pickett’s hot start, Pittsburgh’s offense will revolve with the run game. They need more explosive plays from there. Mike Tomlin’s definition of an explosive running play is anything that gains 10-plus yards, and by using that metric, Pittsburgh finished middle of the pack with 53 such runs last year. Of runs that gained at least 20 yards, they finished bottom-third with just eight of them (to be fair, the stats also include QB runs, which can skew the numbers).
Still, just as run defense is an 11-man job, running the ball offense requires a team effort. The line, of course, doing their job. The back finding the hole, breaking a tackle. And the receivers and tight ends winning at the second and third level. Do that and you’ll have a strong running game. That’s Pittsburgh’s goal.
