Former Pittsburgh Steelers WR Diontae Johnson will be active and make his debut for the Baltimore Ravens after the team acquired him via trade earlier this week, according to Fox Sports insider Jordan Schultz. Schultz adds that Johnson is expected to play 15-20 snaps against the Denver Broncos.
CBS Sports’ Tracy Wolfson is covering the game as a sideline reporter. She said on Twitter that John Harbaugh told her that Johnson would receive 10-15 snaps, so it sounds like 15 is right around the sweet spot for Baltimore as they are looking to get Johnson involved in their offense.
By the time the Steelers and the Ravens meet in Week 11, Johnson will likely be a regular part of their offense. The team just acquired him from the Carolina Panthers on Tuesday, which didn’t give him a ton of time to learn the playbook and get acclimated in Baltimore’s offense ahead of today’s game. But the team still wants him involved, and getting on the field today sets the stage for his involvement to ramp up going forward.
Johnson is expected to help out a Ravens’ passing attack that features Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews but hasn’t gotten much production from their other receiving options. Baltimore was in on Davante Adams earlier this season, and they were able to swing a deal for Johnson to bolster their receiver corps.
The Steelers are also in the receiver market but were unable to re-acquire Johnson due to NFL rules. Even if they could trade back for him, it might not have been the best fit given that the team was reportedly “fed up” with him, which led to his trade to Carolina this offseason. The Steelers are continuing to scour the receiver market ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline, and they might have a new addition to their receiver room ahead of their matchup with Johnson and the Ravens.
