The Pittsburgh Steelers caused some hand-wringing when they traded WR Diontae Johnson for CB Donte Jackson. The initial impression most had in the immediate aftermath was that the Steelers made themselves worse. Now, they are still worse at wide receiver because of that trade—but they are definitely looking better at cornerback.
In fact, after one week, the Steelers are clearly looking like the “winners” of the trade—for now. You can’t evaluate most trades for years, unless their impact is intended to be short-term and immediate. We don’t know what Diontae Johnson will do for the Panthers, nor Donte Jackson for the Steelers.
But we know what Jackson did this week, and we know what Johnson did. Jackson made two tackles with two passes defensed, including an interception. To be fair, the other one should have been an interception, too. Johnson caught two passes on six targets for 19 yards with a long of 11.
Of course, the Panthers’ offense is limiting Diontae Johnson, and QB Bryce Young is not living up to his billing. Meanwhile, Donte Jackson was often stuck with subpar defenses on bad teams. The Panthers had a losing record every year of his career, and now he is on a team that has not had a losing record in two decades.
The Panthers lost to the Saints, 47-10, while the Steelers beat the Falcons, 18-10. The Steelers probably had the easier game, but Donte Jackson did more to help them than Diontae Johnson did to help the Panthers.
During his five seasons with the Steelers, Johnson caught 391 passes for 4,362 yards and 25 touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl as a wide receiver once and made second-team All-Pro as a punt returner. Jackson spent six seasons with the Panthers, recording 14 interceptions, but none last season after coming off an injury.
He already has one interception one game into his Steelers career, and he looks like he should have more opportunities. The Steelers should supply sufficient pressure to allow Jackson to make plays on the ball. But will Bryce Young provide Johnson similar opportunities to make an impact on Carolina’s offense?
Now, Steelers wide receivers not named George Pickens did virtually nothing on Sunday, and that is part of the conversation. And Jackson did have a costly penalty that negated a sack in the game. One of Young’s interceptions came when he was looking for Johnson as well, not that it had much to do with him.
We will have to see how things develop, but so far, I think Donte Jackson is making Steelers fans feel better about the trade. He won’t be perfect, but he is the team’s best No. 2 cover corner since Steven Nelson. Considering where they were at this time last year, that’s an easy win. As for Diontae Johnson, well, they can make do without him.
