When the Pittsburgh Steelers traded away wide receiver Antonio Brown, they used the third-round pick to draft Diontae Johnson. From that moment, the pressure was on Johnson to step up and fill the shoes of Brown. Through six games Johnson only has 20 receptions and this has had a negative overall impact on the entire offense. Because of this, Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner needs to find ways to get Johnson more involved in the offense and here are three ways to do just that.
More targets
This one might seem too obvious but we want to be sure we generalize this a bit. The offense needs more passing attempts in general but especially to Johnson and Smith-Schuster. Pittsburgh has gone so conservative in recent weeks to protect the quarterbacks, wide receiver talent is being squandered.
Pass plays built for him
If you go back and watch Johnson play in college there were definite strengths to his game in terms of routes and areas of the field. Johnson was especially strong in intermediate inside routes working the hash marks. We haven’t seen a lot of this as a pro but giving him what he’s most comfortable with could get his game in gear.
Get him in the run game
If the Steelers can’t find ways to get Johnson involved out in the route, use him as a rusher. Jet sweeps and end arounds play to what Johnson does best. With the Pittsburgh run game on the rise this week is a perfect one to utilize some misdirection and let Johnson get loose in the open field.
