Diontae Johnson

[Jizz Mop]

Is good.....I think he looks great for a rookie getting acclimated to the NFL and learning his way

Def gonna work out

James Washington? How is it this guy looks so good in preseason AND caught tons of balls from MR at Okl St and yet still continues to struggle?

Showed off some Limas Sweed ability last night...but in fairness, those two downfield blocks on DJ’s TD were absolutely awesome.

Also, I can recall two throws from his collegiate teammate that were poorly thrown giving him little chance to make a play.

But how is it these two don’t connect more often given their history together?

Anyway, pleased w Diontae and think he will be a very good #2 or #3 for some time.

[Ice]

Johnson has pretty much surpassed AB's rookie offensive output with over half a season to go, and he has flashed some incredible open field skills and nifty hands along the way. The catch that got called back on the bogus OPI call was basically Brown's "can you hear me now" catch to beat the Ravens in recent past, and the karmic revenge a couple plays later was reminiscent of Brown or Holmes. His ceiling may be higher than 2.

[K_C_]

This is something I meant to mention last week. I was up late and ESPN was showing an OSU game from like 5 years ago. Mason was there, but seemed to be alternating at QB with another player.

The other QB throws this bomb to a blazing fast WR. Guy streaks across the field and was gone for a TD. I was like; "THAT FUCKER is fast. What a play".

The announcer said the player was James Washington.

I just about shit myself. The James Washington we have today isn't the same guy. He looked really good during the preseason but looks lost again in the regular season.

Isn't NEARLY as fast as the kid he was at OSU.

No idea why but I had to share what I saw.

[punum123]

Washington’s block on the TD before half was lit! Maybe he’s playing the wrong position if he likes to hit like that. Hines was smilin’ after that!

[Lynch]

Gonna be forced to stop calling him clank Johnson if he keeps this up. Glad this fucker is comin on cause we need him.

[COR-TEN]

Johnson has pretty much surpassed AB's rookie offensive output with over half a season to go, and he has flashed some incredible open field skills and nifty hands along the way. The catch that got called back on the bogus OPI call was basically Brown's "can you hear me now" catch to beat the Ravens in recent past, and the karmic revenge a couple plays later was reminiscent of Brown or Holmes. His ceiling may be higher than 2.

It was a good OPI call. Johnson was all over the defender. It was a spectacular catch, but OPI.

[SteelerDayTrader]

I dont see much to celebrate with the WR group. I think right now its the top need in the draft by alot. Id like to see 2 drafted.

[Ice]

I saw them both hand checking down the field. Thought it was pretty damn ticky tack considering what had been going on, and what has been all season, but it's neither here nor there today. It was a beautiful catch, and the kid has excellent potential.

Trying to judge the WR corps with this playcalling and this QB play is difficult at best, saying the whole group is total shit seems way far fetched at this point, given circumstances.

[steelheadtrout]

Come on, there was more than hand checking. He was pulling the CB's arm. That's why I wasn't gravely upset at the OPI call.

[El Kabong]

Gonna be forced to stop calling him clank Johnson if he keeps this up. Glad this fucker is comin on cause we need him.

You shouldn't have been calling him Clank to begin with.

[Ice]

Gonna be forced to stop calling him clank Johnson if he keeps this up. Glad this fucker is comin on cause we need him.

You shouldn't have been calling him Clank to begin with.

Let's not dwell on the obvious...

[Ice]

Come on, there was more than hand checking. He was pulling the CB's arm. That's why I wasn't gravely upset at the OPI call.

I thought the DB was giving as good as he got, and I'd have let em play, but that's what makes horse racing. Like I said, doesn't matter much today. Hell, didn't matter much 30 seconds after it happened, honestly.

[Mick]

I’m fine with juju and a non-rookie Diontae as a 1/2 punch. I think this roster is mostly good looking BPA in the draft. Obviously strong bias towards offensive playmakers; we need a WR3, but that’s not a position that keeps you up at night planning for the draft.

[K_C_]

Johnson has pretty much surpassed AB's rookie offensive output with over half a season to go, and he has flashed some incredible open field skills and nifty hands along the way. The catch that got called back on the bogus OPI call was basically Brown's "can you hear me now" catch to beat the Ravens in recent past, and the karmic revenge a couple plays later was reminiscent of Brown or Holmes. His ceiling may be higher than 2.

It was a good OPI call. Johnson was all over the defender. It was a spectacular catch, but OPI.

No.

I seriously hope you're joking.

Both were jostling but there was no obvious push or anything to create space.

By either. The call was a complete joke.

[Stallworth16]

Diontae Johnson vs Dolphins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc9lhFSBWyw

Watch those highlights, good stuff.

Far as I’m concerned Diontae Johnson is the real deal. He’s young and only going to get better as he learns his craft on the pro level.

[drmalba]

Maybe best WR we've picked in that 3rd/4th round spot in close to a decade. Give him Ryan Switzer's 2-4 touches to do something a little off-script.
In my mind he's the true #2 on this team.

That said, I agree the WR group has been overall pretty average so far. DJ starting to flash will take some pressure off JuJu. If we can get Washington and Rudolph on the same page, I have some hope for this crew.

[Steelafan77]

I really like Johnson and believe he will become that next underrated [at the time] WR the Steelers got for a second day pick Success. In the tradition of drafting them where they got Johnson has become a phenom. I just wish Washington would do something to be a better more productive WR. That would mean one less piece needed for the future.

[stillthere]

Showed off some Limas Sweed ability last night...but in fairness, those two downfield blocks on DJ’s TD were absolutely awesome.

He also had a nice pancake on Conner's TD run against the same #40 for the Dolphins.

[bradshaw2ben]

Showed off some Limas Sweed ability last night...but in fairness, those two downfield blocks on DJ’s TD were absolutely awesome.

He also had a nice pancake on Conner's TD run against the same #40 for the Dolphins.

#40 for the Dolphins, who is a rookie I loved coming out-- Nik Needham. He's been pretty good for a rookie starter out of nowhere, but he had a rough night last night.

[COR-TEN]

Johnson has pretty much surpassed AB's rookie offensive output with over half a season to go, and he has flashed some incredible open field skills and nifty hands along the way. The catch that got called back on the bogus OPI call was basically Brown's "can you hear me now" catch to beat the Ravens in recent past, and the karmic revenge a couple plays later was reminiscent of Brown or Holmes. His ceiling may be higher than 2.

It was a good OPI call. Johnson was all over the defender. It was a spectacular catch, but OPI.

No.

I seriously hope you're joking.

Both were jostling but there was no obvious push or anything to create space.

By either. The call was a complete joke.

Take a look at that clip posted above. They replay it. If it were AB, there'd be no call. But Johnson had the defenders right arm locked up for at least 10 yards. It's why he had to make the catch one handed.

[the-other-burg]

Not sure how anyone could be down on Johnson yet. He's progressed well and made some big plays. The OPI catch was a legit big time play, even though it was called back.

[LakecrestSteeler]

It was a good OPI call. Johnson was all over the defender. It was a spectacular catch, but OPI.

No.

I seriously hope you're joking.

Both were jostling but there was no obvious push or anything to create space.

By either. The call was a complete joke.

Take a look at that clip posted above. They replay it. If it were AB, there'd be no call. But Johnson had the defenders right arm locked up for at least 10 yards. It's why he had to make the catch one handed.

The joke part is not the call. Watch the replay and focus on which ref throws the flag. That is the joke part of the call. I thought it was OPI. Also thought there was DPI prior to the arm holding.

[Stallworth16]

My take on the OPI is that level of hand jostling is called about 1 out of 20 times on the receiver. You see that sort of thing all the time, and it’s not called.

[Stallworth16]

Washington is earning respect with his blocking. It’s too early to give up on him as a receiver. At best, he’s streaky. Washington needs to show consistency as a receiver.

[K_C_]

Washington is earning respect with his blocking. It’s too early to give up on him as a receiver. At best, he’s streaky. Washington needs to show consistency as a receiver.

The block was amazing but we need JW to become the dominant receiver he was at OSU and what we expected him to be when we took him in the second round.

The dude has to start making plays as you said, consistently.

Washington is so talented, maybe all he needs is just one 7 catch, 120 yards and 2 TD type game to really get him going.

Hope it happens soon. We desperately need him to step up.

[Jobu]

Washington is earning respect with his blocking. It’s too early to give up on him as a receiver. At best, he’s streaky. Washington needs to show consistency as a receiver.

Personally, I don’t give a tiny rats ass about his blocking. He’s paid to catch the football. He’s shown little ability to do that.

[COR-TEN]

Washington is earning respect with his blocking. It’s too early to give up on him as a receiver. At best, he’s streaky. Washington needs to show consistency as a receiver.

Personally, I don’t give a tiny rats ass about his blocking. He’s paid to catch the football. He’s shown little ability to do that.

I feel the same way. It's nice you can block, but catch the damn football.

[Scunge]

Washington has also been used on wham blocks at the line of scrimmage too.

In terms of catching the ball, would everybody agree that a lot of the passes that they throw to him are easily the longest passes they attempt? I am talking, 25-30+ yards or more down the field??

You are not going to have a 70 or 60% catch rate with this type of WR, somewhere along the lines of 50-55%.
Ben had a 58% rate with Mike Wallace.
Ben had a 56% rate with Marty Bryant.
Ben had a 51% rate with Nate Washington.

Right now, Washington has been targeted 27 times and he has 10 catches for 161 yards, 16.1 yards per catch. That is in 6 games of play and yeah, that 37% catch rate is not good. I have seen him beat his man and be wide open and our QBs have thrown him really poorly placed balls that led to incompletions.

I have seen him be able to pick up critical 1st downs this year on 3rd down. He not only blocks down field, but they have used him in Wham blocks like how they used JuJu his first two years. I don't think he is a one trick pony, when did the Steelers ever count on Wallace or Bryant or Washington to do a Wham block or to convert a 3rd down? I think they see him as a WR who can be a vertical threat but also a well rounded WR that can help you out beyond that.

Again, people questioning his speed, I see him repeatedly getting separation and pulling away from people, but the timing has to be there, the QB has to get the ball out. When he was at the senior bowl, they used some Next Gen tech and had him timed at what was it, over 21 MPH and for perspective, Gil Brandt had said that time would have been 5th fastest among NFL players timed in all of 2017. James was a 100 and 200 M champion high school track star in Texas.

Speed is not all about running a fast 40 time. Some players get faster after 40 yards, are able to accelerate, have a finishing kick. Washington has what they call build up speed, not the super fast 10 yard split speed at the beginning. I look at Donate Johnson in a different way with his speed too.

With DJ it is eery how he reminds me of Santonio Holmes and another player, Louis Lipps.

Both of those former Steelers were what I call gliders, when they ran it looked so effortless, they had this silky smooth running gait. And it doesn't look like they are running fast yet they are gobbling up a lot of ground. Then they had the electric open field moves to put a single foot down and change direction and leave defenders dumbfounded. Just so beautiful to watch. DJ is the latest Steeler WR with this ability and talent.

DJ was timed at a 4.53 but that doesn't do him justice, to me he looks and plays like a guy much faster, 4.45? I just hate it when people get hung up on 40 times. DJ like JuJu is supposedly too slow and yet he has TD passes of 39, 43 and 45 this year. Some don't like his hands but any drops he has are concentration issues where he is looking to run with the ball too early before securing the catch. When he is focused he is able to do some amazing grabs, often times his biggest catches are where he will use one hand to stab at the ball and bat it to himself, he does have short arms and his catch radius is smaller but his hands are fine.

I really like the development of our WR trio, JuJu, DJ and Washington. They have seen QB changes from Ben to Mason, to Devin and then back to Mason and lest we forget they did lose their WR coach and then got his replacement right before the start of the season. Not easy conditions by any stretch.

[Kodiak]

I saw where Holton played something like 26 snaps this week....almost all of them running plays.

That's Forrest Gump-level stupid. You don't get away tipping your hand like that in today's NFL. Just another example of these coaches calling a game like it's 2001.

[Stallworth16]

Scrunge, you were referring to DJ seeming more like a 4.45 which is exactly what his “low 40” time is on (nfl draft scout). Those home track times are usually a better indicator for game speed of a skill player who happened to run a slow time at the combine. Combine is like a one time deal and guys often don’t run their best times.

And it’s true that practical game speed and ability to change speeds and lose guys isn’t the same as 40 time. AB was a good example of that, as in DJ.