The Steelers’ once maligned passing game is starting to show some serious signs of life, and a rookie may be the root cause.
Diontae Johnson is coming off his most productive game with the Steelers, catching five passes for a career-high 84 yards and a touchdown in Pittsburgh’s 27-14 win over Miami on Monday night.
“I see the plays he made and the type of attitude he came to practice with and he came to meetings with, the way he was hungry to learn and didn’t have have a prima donna bone in him,” Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph said Thursday. “He’s continued to grow and develop. He’s moving in the right direction and we’re happy about him.”
The Steelers saw something in Johnson early. A third-round selection in this year’s draft, Johnson was thought of as a bit of a reach. One draft board, when he was selected, had 72 available players listed ahead of Johnson.
It was, however, a slow starting process for Johnson, who missed a lot of the offseason team activities with injury.
“He really didn’t get a chance to do a lot,” Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. “It really set him back. I like his progress right now. The challenge is for him to continue to grow each week. I think we’re finding out some things that he can do really well and some areas of improvement. And he understands.”
Johnson’s development appears to be paying off for Pittsburgh’s top pass catcher, JuJu Smith-Schuster, who pulled in his first 100-yard receiving game of the season against the Dolphins.
“It’s helped me a lot, having a guy on the other side, making plays and doing his job,” Smith-Schuster said. “It’s created opportunities for me.
“He’s not talking a lot. Just putting his head down and working. He dives into the team and being a team guy. That’s one thing he’s done a lot.”
Because of ineffectiveness at the receiver position, with the likes of free agent signee Donte Moncrief and Ryan Switzer not producing, Johnson has been thrust into a more meaningful spot in the offense. He’s delivered.
“I can think back to Antonio (Brown),” Fichtner said. “He didn’t play early, but he did some special teams things and helped our football team. And then just kept growing. Diontae, maybe by circumstance, has been put in a role a little quicker, but he’s done a nice job.”
“It’s pretty cool to see how far he’s come as a big player on our team, making big plays and impacting our team,” Smith-Schuster added. “He’s doing his job.