George Pickens goes viral for his absurd, one-handed catches. Allen Robinson II gets the feature piece for being the new-look veteran in the room. Calvin Austin III has the redemption angle, impressing this summer after missing his rookie year.
All Diontae Johnson has done is have an awesome camp. And pretty much no one is talking about it.
To be fair, he’s more tenured and more established than the others. Johnson is a known guy, not someone fans are learning more about. But for a guy who took a ton of heat last season, some of it fair, some of it not, he’s looking like someone poised for a bounce-back season.
Johnson’s start of camp was quiet, losing out on targets to Pickens. You could sense a hint of frustration in Johnson during that time, looking up at the sky after one rep in team period when Kenny Pickett dotted Pickens over the middle instead of finding Johnson, who had broken open along the left sideline.
But soon after, Pickett-to-Johnson became the marquee connection. From the week of camp we last tracked practices, five to 10, Johnson – not Pickens – was Pickett’s top target. While we haven’t updated our camp stats in about one week, at last check Johnson had more receptions and yards than Pickens and was tied with him in touchdowns. At that point, he had only one incompletion thrown his way, a drop, and hey, they all drop one from time to time. Overall, hands haven’t been a concern for Johnson, who made his own wild one-handed grab in 7v7 in early August. In yesterday’s practice, Pickett rifled a pass over the middle to hit Johnson in stride during the final team periods, him running after the catch for a gain of 21. This camp, no one has been able to cover No. 18.
Pickens capped the opening preseason drive with a touchdown but it was Johnson who caught three passes earlier in the possession, including an extended third-down play to move the sticks. None of this is meant as a put-down towards Pickens, who is also having a fine camp and showing real growth in Year Two, but a reminder that Johnson has been just as productive.
The best thing for Johnson will be to find the end zone early in the season. Preferably, in Week One. That’ll end his touchdown-less streak — he hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 17 of the 2021 season — and take some of the pressure off him. The drought will end, and he won’t press as much. All Pittsburgh needs to do with Johnson is fine-tune his route tree to suit his skill set, winning over the middle as opposed to the sidelines, and he’ll again become a weapon in this offense. All Johnson has done this summer is be the best version of himself. A crisp and nuanced route runner with fantastic stop-start ability. A receiver with a knack for making tough catches. And a top target in this offense.
Johnson’s target share could drop a bit in Pittsburgh’s run-focused offense with so many skill players surrounding him, especially as Pickens becomes more than the “go-deep” guy, but he should be more efficient. An 85-catch, 920-yard, five-touchdown season seems well within Johnson’s reach. While those numbers aren’t as gaudy as he’s put up in past years, he should pass the eye test with flying colors and put up great tape.
