The Pittsburgh Steelers are right where we are: sitting at home being mad. Although they managed to make the playoffs in 2023, they lost in the first round. It has now been seven years without a postseason victory, the longest drought in franchise history. The question is what to do next.
The first step is always taking stock of what happened and what is left. That’s part of the exit meeting process, in which coaches meet with each player. They discuss the season and their expectations moving forward—and potentially their role within it.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between head coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2023 season.
Player: WR Diontae Johnson
Position: WR
Experience: 5 Years
Nothing was consistent about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season. Certainly not the performance of many of their key players, such as WR Diontae Johnson. It started with a hiccup. He pulled a hamstring early in the second half of the season opener as he was running after the catch for the Steelers’ biggest play of the day. Then he missed the next four games.
It started out well enough when he returned. He was averaging about seven catches for 85 yards per game in his first three weeks back, roughly what you would expect from Johnson. He even caught his first touchdown pass in that third game since the 2021 season. A big monkey off his back.
Then things didn’t go so well. One catch for 17 yards the next week. Two for 16 after that. It shouldn’t be a shock given the inconsistency at the quarterback position that wide receivers’ production was uneven, granted, but some of that was certainly on Johnson.
Still, he ended on a good run. In the last six games of the regular season, he caught 21 passes for 332 yards, averaging 15.8 yards per catch, with four touchdowns. He did have one fumble, and he had his effort rightly questioned for not blocking.
One thing that remained the same as always is that Johnson remains an elite route-running wide receiver. He is among the best in the game at getting open regardless of what happens after that. Do his quarterbacks see him? Does he make the catch? Does he run backward when he does? All of those are less predictable than his feel for open space.
He already was before all this, but Johnson became the poster child for everything that ails the Steelers after the non-block situation. He had to apologize to his teammates for that, though I’m not sure the same was ever required of George Pickens.
Steelers fans aren’t going to change their mind about Johnson, but he is going to be a starting wide receiver on this team next season. And he is going to be an asset to whomever is throwing passes. Because you can never stay mad at the guy who’s always open.
