Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, Diontae Johnson has yet to break the 100-yard mark this season after he accomplished the feat three times in the 2021 season.
In Weeks 2, 3 and 13, the University of Toledo product broke the century barrier and came just shy with 92 yards against the Green Bay Packers, 98 in Cleveland in Week 8, and 95 in the team's disappointing blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
In 2022, his highest total so far is 84 in Pittsburgh's Week 3 loss to the Browns. According to the latest update from ESPN FiveThirtyEight's ranking of the top receivers, only Philadelphia Eagles wideout, A.J Brown, has done a better job of getting open so far this season.
Open Score (x) by Catch Score (y), 2022 season.
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) November 16, 2022
-Tyler Lockett, permanently underrated (YAC score not shown, though)
-Chris Olave is amazing already, needs a quarterback
-Diontae Johnson is always open
-Donovan Peoples-Jones and George Pickens: not open, still making catches. pic.twitter.com/a61G2B4N2K
The problem so far for the Ruskin, FL native has been his production. He's averaging nine targets a game this season down by 1.5 from a season ago.
He's the most targeted receiver in the league so far this season who hasn't managed to find paydirt yet. If his signal caller from last year, Ben Roethlisberger, was still under center, perhaps he'd have had a 75-yard score on last Sunday's opening play.
Photo by Jordan Schofield. Steeler Nation.
The one area where the team's most open receiver has managed to get some production is in drawing flags. The Athletic's Mark Kaboly pointed out in a column on Friday that the 26-year-old has been the targeted receiver on five defensive pass interference calls (and a sixth knocked out by off-setting penalties).
"I don’t know if that means he’s open or not,” offensive coordinator Matt Canada told the veteran writer about the pass interference calls. “He is finding a way to get to where he needs to be. It is a good thing because those things don’t show up in statistics. Those yards are still real yards. They don’t result in catches for him, but they need to know where he is.”
Earlier in the year, Johnson had expressed his frustration with the lack of balls coming his way despite his talent for finding open space with his ability to burn defenders.
Rookie quarterback, Kenny Pickett acknowledged some of the elite traits of the talented receiver and told Kaboly he'll be looking to try and get the ball to the 2022 Pro Bowler whether it's to make an explosive play downfield, or to draw a penalty flag:
“As long as I put the ball in a safe place, I feel like we have a pretty good shot,” Pickett said. “We try to get him the ball, and he does such a great job of getting separation. His change of direction makes it hard for them to keep up with him. They aren’t afraid to take the penalty to prevent the big play, and we’ve seen that.”
Steelers' Other Playmakers By the Numbers
Only rookie George Pickens and tight end Pat Freiermuth have reached the 30 target mark needed to be included in the rankings. Coincidentally, they're also the only other Pittsburgh pass catchers to draw pass interference calls with one a piece.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens (14) celebrates with tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) after scoring a touchdown during the second quarter against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. Photo Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
The University of Georgia product has already shown off his highlight-reel playmaking ability and ranks 7th in the league in making the catch despite being four spots from the bottom of the table in the getting-open category.
As for the former Penn State Most Valuable Offensive Player in 2019, he ranks near the bottom of the list with a 40 overall which ties him for 18th among qualified tight ends. Although he's only gotten into 8 games this year the Merrimac, Mass native's 403 yards in those contests has him seventh in the category for a tight end this season per statmuse. Head coach Mike Tomlin said a week ago that with Chase Claypool gone to the Chicago Bears, it'll be the 6"5', 258 lbs sophomore getting the bulk of the work done in the middle of the field.
So, Steeler Nation, do the numbers agree with the eye test? Do you see Johnson open a lot? Is Pickens making lots of contested catches? Is Friermuth really near the bottom of NFL tight ends? As always, let us know what you're thinking either in the comments section down below or on our social media feeds.
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