Diontae Johnson is a #1 Receiver

The zero he had last year is exactly my correct assessment

 

I don't know about the inconsistency in which you speak. What is a good decision when running with the ball? Players attempt to make plays with the ball in their hands. Can't fault the effort.

How many WR's had more drops than DJ last season? Do the research. I am open to the reality that drops can be defined in various ways.

DJ gets open and caught a lot of passes. WR's are not defined by sideline catches. Try again my dude.

Johnson is VERY GOOD and KEY WORD is HE GETS OPEN is where it should had stopped for you.

Put Johnson with a better QB and all the noise would silence regarding his mistakes. Johnson would simply be GREAT with better QB play. Why? Because he gets open vs every coverage the NFL threw at him in his young career.

 

You are the man that said EXCEPT score a TD. My reply was
20 TD catches for DJ's career. The man can catch TD's passes. How bad was the Steelers offense last season? The Steelers offense had issues that were bigger than DJ.

 

Zero TDS last year and you don’t think that’s a problem

Other players scored

But not DJ

Yep he can do it all

 

I think people can chalk it up to an anomaly and less of a recurring problem. When he scored 20 TD's in his first 39 games started (which is nearly a 9TD pace per 17 game season) it kinda sets a precedent that he's a capable TD scorer.

The one year where we end up starting a bad QB for 1/3 of the season and a rookie the other 2/3 it kinda makes sense that he would have a down year. We were bottom 10 in passing yards per game, total points per game, and dead last in total passing TD's... it was an anomaly due to dumb luck and piss poor offense all around

He is consistently graded as the league's most open receiver (he also was graded as having the highest percentage of off target throws sent his way in 2022). Sure, he battles concentration drops (which is frustrating for sure)... but he still has only been towards the top of the league in drop percentage once (year 2). For comparison Ja'Marr Chase is a top 3 WR IMO and he consistently has a higher drop percentage than DJ.

If DJ played with prime Tom Brady he'd be a 1400yd 10TD every year type of guy. The kid is a really good player. Is he perfect? No. He has particular flaws with sometimes trying to do to much with the ball in his hands (ie. running sideways/backwards), as well as having some "feel"/recognition/mental type things not line up (back shoulder throws and not always being on the same page as the QB in those situations). But that's why he is a good player and not a great one.

People have no problem downplaying someone's career year (Like Hurts) and say "well, they have to do that consistently in order to prove that's who they are", but then immediately jump to the conclusion that DJ sucks and will never score again because of one down year. If he scores 0 again next year, then we can start talking about it being a problem. Until then, his history has proven otherwise and I have no issue chalking it up to bad luck/anomaly/unique bad situation.

 

My old arthritic fingers still have a good grip on my beer

I’m just not giggly over a receiver who doesn’t score when other players did/can

 

I can't fix stupidity.

 

I noticed

 

When the player consistently loses yards as Johnson did this past season, that is a poor decision. I can absolutely fault him for trying too hard to make a big play and costing his team yards, sometimes even giving away a first down.

I never claimed that he was defined by sideline catches, but it is a weakness in his game. It is one reason he didn't catch a touchdown pass this past season. Trubisky actually threw a beautiful ball to him in the end zone in the first half against the Jets and Johnson's sloppy footwork cost them a touchdown. That was the point, that as precise as he can be running routes, he is sloppy with the rest of his game.

I prefer not to stop with an incomplete, flawed analysis like yours. Yes, he is great at getting open, but the rest of his game needs work. Blaming the quarterbacks for Johnson's sloppy play is just silly. The Steelers need better quarterback play and Johnson needs to be better. Both things are true.

 

Ok so the myth that DJ is a #1 has been dispelled

Depending on how the draft and Austin work out DJ could be a #3

Since he can get open but can’t score maybe he should move to the slot and be used for third down get the sticks catches

Along as he doesn’t run backwards and loose the first down

 

Multiple things can be true about DJ. Yes he runs really good routes and can get open. It has been pointed out with statistics that he doesn't actually drop that many balls but the issue is the timing of the drops. Also, any one who thinks that his runs after the catch don't need improvement has blinders on. It's been frequently pointed out in real time during the game day threads.

 

Not giggly over a qb who couldn't even avg 200 yds passing a game in this nfl for a team that was in the playoffs prior to him getting there.

 

Ok

 

As in everything....it's not what You do....it's when You do it.

 

The team barely slipping into the playoffs the previous year has absolutely nothing to do with what sort of passing statistics a quarterback should have been able to muster the following season. If you want to talk about team success, then the relevant comparison would be the Steelers' 7-5 record in games started by Pickett, including 5-1 in his last six starts. Sure, that includes the win over the Bucs that Trubisky finished, but it also includes the loss to the Ravens in which Pickett barely played.

You would be much better at this if you didn't rely so heavily on logical fallacies.

 

I don't believe he consistently loss yards. Did he lose yards at times? Yes. Did he miss a 1st down or two? Yes.

I don't fault players for the effort of attempting to make more out of a play. Sometimes it works out and some times it doesn't DJ attempted to do MORE. The EFFORT was my focus. Like Barry Sanders wanted and attempted to do more. He loss a lot of yards with this EFFORT. We can disagree on this. No probs.

You would be a terrible leader of men/people if you SIMPLY fault players/people for what you deem as "poor decisions" without considering the effort. It's a bad way to inspire anyone to learn lessons and ultimately improve as a professional. You are a former.

So how many WR's in the HISTORY of the NFL were defined by SIDELINE catches as "STREGTHS IN THEIR GAMES OR WEAKNESSES". The ability to get open and catch the ball is what teams seek in a WR. Sideline catches are an after thought based on what exactly? YOUR OPIONION TODAY? YOUR WEAK ANALYSIS? A QUESTION?


Football can be a game of seconds and inches. Make the play or you don't. Do better my dude. The fact that you call my analysis flawed shows your own insecurities.

Does Johnson have great foot work or doesn't he? WR's don't get open without great foot work. WR's don't have great foot work on every play. Johnson has some of the best foot work for a young WR in the NFL today. Why? Because he gets open. He showed the ability to defeat a variety of coverages in the NFL. What was lacking is the top notch QB to enhance his abilities as a WR.

I disagree that Johnson is sloppy with the rest of his game. Put Johnson with better QB play and he will flourish. The Steelers are lucky to have him because of the variety of ways he can defeat defensive coverages. He is still a "YOUNG" WR that has plenty of room to grow.

QB's performance generally define TEAM SUCCESS in the NFL. I will let you figure the rest out in regard to what QB's mean to WR's.

Stick to the I was the FORMERSCIBE ISH........ I am a current belief dude.

 

Was this poor foot work or a game of inches? Former dude is a bit out of touch.

 

Game of inches. Former dude is a bit out of touch.

 

Game of inches. Someone suggested it was "poor foot work".

Johnson will never the the "physical" WR that AB was. AB played with a prime Ben. DJ played with a past his prime Ben and put up numbers.

2022 Johnson as a WR was the least of the Steelers issues. DJ was the only WR that the Steelers couldn't afford to lose for 2 seasons. He also played and produced.

If KP develops into the QB that the Steelers expect than DJ will thrive. The Steelers offense will thrive. The Steelers short team future hinges on KP's development. I don't think that anyone will disagree with this.

 

At the end of the day DJ PRODUCED and has the ability to produce at a high level in the NFL regardless of his mistakes or imperfections.

Small minded or uneducated people think differently. Even the "Former" dude.........

 

D J produced zero touchdowns last year

 

You should go back and re-watch some of the games. Johnson went backward and lost yards quite often. Also, Barry Sanders? I watched Barry Sanders play, and Johnson is no Barry Sanders.

Sideline or end-line catches are part of the game, yet another area of weakness in Johnson's game. They are part of an overall sloppiness to his game once the ball is in the air. He has great footwork when he runs routes, but it deteriorates when he is trying to catch the ball. Quarterback play doesn't make him do sloppy things like drop key passes, run the wrong way, and fail to keep his feet in bounds when he has the opportunity to do so. Those are things Johnson can control regardless of who is throwing passes to him.

He can certainly get better, but he hasn't fixed the flaws I identified yet and he's no rookie any longer. I never faulted Johnson's effort, but his focus needs work and he needs both of those to get better.