Former Pittsburgh Steelers WR Diontae Johnson made his Baltimore Ravens debut yesterday, and it was—underwhelming. While not unexpected, the veteran saw zero targets, and accordingly caught zero passes. Acquired just last week, he is still very much in the process of learning a new offense, and the Ravens didn’t bring him in with an immediate expectation of making some huge impact.
Johnson’s minimal contributions across about a dozen and a half snaps shockingly didn’t slow down the Ravens’ offense. In fact, they matched a season high with 41 points, the third time they’ve reached that mark this season. Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown passes, Zay Flowers put up 127 yards and two scores, and Derrick Henry rushed for 106 with two touchdowns.
Jackson only attempted 19 passes throughout the game, Flowers seeing nearly a third of them. Rashod Bateman is the only other player who saw more than three, drawing four with three catches. Despite the low attempt total, he still targeted eight different players. The question is how soon and how often he will target Diontae Johnson.
Jackson admitted that he was no fan of Johnson while he was with the Steelers but is happy to have him now. The Ravens brought him in not for the present, but for the near future. They want to get him up to speed so that he can make an impact if and when they need a play. But right now, Zay Flowers is doing a fine job carrying the passing offense.
Flowers entered yesterday’s game with just one touchdown, but he showed he can find the end zone with a pair of scores yesterday. He is now over 650 yards on the season and the Ravens’ clear top receiver. But Johnson can come in and take over some of the snaps from Nelson Agholor and Tylan Wallace.
Diontae Johnson has been traded twice since March, the Steelers first sending him to the Panthers. They got back CB Donte Jackson for him, and has three interceptions on the season. While Johnson made some plays in Carolina, he appeared to wear out his welcome, and they sold him cheap.
Amusingly, the Steelers appear to be actively seeking another wide receiver, but they could not bring Johnson back even if they wanted to. A team cannot acquire a player via trade in the same year in which it traded him. So instead, they will have to play against him twice (at least) later this season.
And the first game between the Ravens and Steelers is coming up in a couple weeks. Johnson will surely have a better grasp of the offense by then. And the Ravens are the sort of team to highlight a player in a game plan for personal reasons, so you can expect they will try to get Johnson opportunities to make plays against the Steelers.
