Prior to the Pittsburgh Steelers heading off on their bye week last week, QB Kenny Pickett spoke to the media and expressed his pleasure of getting WR Diontae Johnson back into the lineup after spending the last four games on IR with a hamstring injury suffered in Week One against the San Francisco 49ers, stating that the team missed his presence in the passing game in a big way.
Fast forward to Wednesday and Pickett was asked again what Johnson’s inclusion back into the offense as the offense as a whole attempts to get off to a fast start coming off the bye against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
“I think it helped balance the team out a little bit,” Pickett said to the media on video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “George was getting a lot of attention. He was still having success, but there was still a lot of attention going to 14’s way. Now that [Diontae Johnson] is back out there, I feel like it kind of balances us up a little bit. So, going to see how they play us here on Sunday and figure it out.”
Johnson mentioned that he looks forward to taking some pressure off Pickens’ plate with his return to the field, looking to help open each other up for more advantageous looks in the passing game. Pickens has done well in Johnson’s absence, having the 17th-most targets in the league this season, and currently has 22 receptions for 393 yards and two TDs. Still, while Pickens has made some fantastic plays in the first five weeks, there have been a few occasions where he has gone quiet in the passing game, especially against the Texans where he finished with three receptions for 25 yards.
There have been plenty of instances where Pickens has been double-teamed the last several weeks with Johnson out of the lineup, allowing opposing defenses to focus coverage on him when they chose not to single-cover him (IE Ravens on his go-ahead touchdown reception). Getting Johnson and hopefully Freiermuth back will help free up Pickens for more one-on-one looks in the coming weeks, allowing him to do what he does best by defeating contested coverage with acrobatic catches along the sideline and in the end zone.
The Rams have been susceptible to allowing big plays through the air in man coverage this season, meaning Pickens could be in for a big game Sunday should Pittsburgh get looks of him singled up against likely CB Ahkello Witherspoon. Johnson could have a nice return to the lineup as well with CB Derion Kendrick’s status for Sunday up in the air and an overall lack of experience in the Los Angeles’ CB room.
