The Pittsburgh Steelers acquired Allen Robinson from the Los Angeles Rams this week. The merits of Robinson as a weapon have been met with equal mixes of joy and skepticism. Robinson was a top 10 wide receiver in the NFL at one time and what he has left in the tank remains to be seen when the Steelers gather together for the first time in 2023. It also touched on a different debate which is what to do with Diontae Johnson.
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Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson works on catching during the 2022 training camp.
Trading Diontae Johnson For The 12th Pick In The 2023 NFL Draft Is A Potential Solution For Both Parties
Trading Johnson as part of a package to move up in the draft with the Houston Texans started as a thought exercise about how the Steelers could move up in next week’s draft to grab a top tackle and add picks 12 and 104 in the 2023 NFL Draft to pick 17 for Johnson and pick 32. It was widely panned on Twitter when I suggested it but has since put down roots and become a hot rumor and ballooned into trading Johnson for anything and everything under the sun.
The seed of the initial speculation was that this is not a good wide receiver class, and the Texans were being mocked a wide receiver at 12 consistently. Each new mock draft brought a constant rotation of Quentin Johnston, Jaxon Smith-Ngjiba and Jordan Addison to pair with Bryce Young or CJ Stroud. This was coupled with Peter Skoronski, Paris Johnson Jr and Broderick Jones being off the board by the time the Steelers picked at 17 in mock drafts and designed to get them into position to grab them.
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Jordan Addison makes a leaping catch over a defender at practice during his freshman season at the University of Pittsburgh in 2020
It solved two problems. It gave the Texans a reliable number-one wide receiver to pair with a new quarterback and put the Steelers in a position to have two first-round picks at 12 and 17 assuring the best tackles and cornerbacks would be in play. Losing Johnson would hurt but the Steelers would get long-term answers at two positions of need and five years of control over very expensive positions to find in free agency.
The adage is you have to give to get and, in this case, if they did it right the Steelers would be getting two high-level starters for one.
The dump Johnson sentiment is now a runaway train with all kinds of speculation as to what they can get for the wide receiver that is entering year one of a two-year extension. Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk told the biggest cheerleader for trading the Steelers wide receiver Andrew Fillipponi recently that he is sure the Steelers will get calls for Johnson leading up to the draft. It has been suggested by multiple sources that they could get a late first-round pick or an early second-round pick from an appropriately desperate team that needs a wide receiver.
Let’s be clear the Steelers should not trade Johnson just to trade him. It is one thing to do a deal that gives you two mid-first-round picks but quite another to just dump one of the best route runners in football for anything they can get. It is incredibly irritating as a fan to watch him run backward and drop key passes but replacing him with a receiver in this draft is a dicey proposition.
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Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens and quarterback Kenny Pickett with the Pickett to Pickens connection!
George Pickens needs the freedom to bloom but not at the expense of seeing double teams constantly while he is still emerging as a route runner. Kenny Pickett is already hamstrung by Matt Canada and his “Saturdayish” scheme. It is one thing to sacrifice for a top left tackle that would give Pickett extra time to scan the field and quite another to watch the second-year signal caller run for his life with the revolving door he dealt with at times from the blind side last season while breaking in a less than stellar rookie pass catcher.
The Robinson trade was extremely revealing. Pittsburgh is the acknowledged best team at drafting and developing wide receivers. They thought so highly of this crop of wide receivers they traded for a 30-year-old receiver coming off an unproductive year and an injury that cost him a third of last season. There was no easy answer to replace Johnson in the upcoming NFL draft and the Steelers do not appear to be interested in trying.
Mark J. Rebilas | USA Today Sports
Broderick Jones takes on Alabama pass rusher Will Anderson Jr.
The draft projections have also started to swing away from a quarterback for the Houston Texans as suddenly Stroud is dropping down draft boards and the Texans are being associated with Will Anderson Jr with the second overall pick in the first round of next week's NFL Draft. It is doubtful that any team in the top 15 of this NFL Draft will pick a wide receiver if the Texans do not go quarterback at number two.
Omar Khan dumped Chase Claypool for the best draft pick he could get and number 32 was an absolute coupe. Trading Johnson for a top tackle and corner would be another great move by Khan. Dumping Johnson for a pick you would have to use on a downgrade at wide receiver would be a head-scratching salary dump on a team that has not made any missteps thus far in Khan’s tenure. Giving away one of his best assets for essentially nothing is likely to be his first mistake.
What do you think Steeler Nation? Is trading Johnson for whatever the Steeler can get a good idea? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
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