Mike's Beer Bar War Room: Why Johnson's so vital to the passing game

The Steelers have gotten just 27 snaps from Diontae Johnson this year. But Johnson could be returning Sunday night in Los Angeles against the Rams, and he could be exactly what's needed to help an ailing passing game. 

What will be back in the equation?

From a numbers perspective, let’s go back a bit. Coming into this year, Johnson has been targeted at least 144 times and caught at least 86 passes in each of the last three seasons. During that time, he averaged 9.6 targets, 5.9 catches and 61.8 yards per game played. 

Although he didn’t score a touchdown all season, Johnson received 18 red zone targets last year. Pat Freiermuth was targeted 13 times in the red zone. No other Steelers pass catcher had more than seven such targets. There were only 63 red zone pass attempts by Pittsburgh in 2022, however. Before last season, Johnson caught 20 touchdowns over his first three seasons, eight of those in 2021. He magically forget how to find the end zone, folks. 

No, this isn’t a touchdown, it is a two-point conversion. But believe it or not, Johnson is very adept in this area of the field. 

The Steelers also had the number one receiver duo (Johnson and George Pickens) at drawing defensive pass interference calls in 2022. Part of this stems from this offense running far too many go routes last season, although Matt Canada did start to vary Johnson’s and Pickens’ respective route trees late last season, and we have thankfully seen that even more with Pickens this year. 

Yes, Johnson was asked to run too many go routes down the sideline last year, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t good and effective when doing so:

This is an excellent adjustment to the ball while creating "late separation."

Johnson is a truly elite route runner. Targets are earned, and Johnson has earned his high target share because he gets open better than anyone in a Steelers uniform since Antonio Brown. 

This isn’t an exaggeration: Johnson is one of the league’s best separators. He runs a full route tree extremely well and abuses man coverage, zone and press man equally well -- something you rarely see in the league. Though there were very few positives from the Steelers' Week 1 loss to San Francisco, Johnson killed man coverage in that game, as he has for most of his career. 

Johnson also has a flair for the spectacular: 

Johnson has very good after the catch ability. Granted, he does have an awful tendency to come back towards the line of scrimmage before going upfield, although Canada’s route concepts deserve a lot of blame for this. Don’t forget that Johnson was/is an excellent punt returner. He can create space for himself with the ball in his hands. 

Johnson also has his share of dropped passes. That is undeniable. But you know what? Most highly-targeted receivers rack up their share of drops. Stefon Diggs led the NFL in dropped passes last season. And, especially at the end of the Ben Roethlisberger era, most of Johnson’s targets came close to the line of scrimmage in a highly-congested area of the field with big defenders looking to blow him up. In addition, Johnson also isn’t the biggest or most physical receiver in the league. 

There is a little bad with Johnson’s game to go with an awful lot of good. His assignments over the past few years have been very difficult compared to other top NFL receivers, and Johnson has come through as a guy that just demands the football because he is almost always open. He’s one of the NFL’s most underrated wide receivers. 

Basically, the Steelers play 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end) or 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends). Compared to most teams, there isn’t a lot of diversity there with personnel groupings. The Steelers have employed 11 personnel 75.2% of their offensive snaps this season. Only five NFL offenses have used a single personnel grouping a higher percentage of their snaps. 

With Johnson out of the lineup for almost the entirety of the young season, the Steelers' other wide receiver participation has been: Pickens (273 of a possible 304 snaps), Allen Robinson (260), Calvin Austin III (211), and then Myles Boykin chipping in with 35 plays of offense and Gunner Olszewski with five snaps. 

The key with that is, with Johnson back in the mix, is less of Robinson. Robinson now has an "old man’s game," mostly out of the slot. He is big body that has a good understanding of how to sit down in soft spots against zone coverage, and he can move the chains with some craftiness. But there is no longer any explosiveness to Robinson’s game, and he offers little after the catch. Robinson’s stat line last week (nine targets, five catches, 29 receiving yards) against Baltimore tells you all you need to know about this player. At this point, the opposing defense is happy to see Robinson on the field.

Hopefully the Steelers recognize this and make Austin basically the full-time No. 3 receiver. While Austin is obviously small, he has rare speed and can change a game in the drop of a hat. Austin can line up outside or in the slot. And, if he's used as the true third wide out, the Steelers could become less predictable with where their wide receivers align. 

Giving Johnson or Pickens work out of the slot would make a lot of sense and give the defense more to prepare for. Johnson has done the bulk of his work in the NFL as an X receiver, but getting him easier work from the slot could boost his production even more. He lined up outside an extremely high percentage of the time in 2022, a more difficult spot to produce from. 

As for Austin, he is at opposite of the spectrum right now from Robinson. So, getting Johnson back in the equation could have a huge ripple effect for the Steelers' playmakers. 

Also, Kenny Pickett has struggled in a lot of areas this year. There is no questioning that. However, where he might be worst is his "success rate," which is his percentage of plays that result in a positive play. The Jets' Zach Wilson is the only quarterback in the NFL with a worse success rate than Pickett. Adding Johnson’s ability to create "layup throws" should dramatically help Pickett in this regard. 

With Johnson out of the lineup, the tape shows that opposing defenses have rolled coverage in Pickens' direction, as he's clearly the Steelers' most dangerous remaining weapon. And, Pickens has still thrived. But, over the past several years, defenses have really favored Johnson. Why? Because defensive coordinators watch tape and understand just how good of a player he truly is. 

But now, how will the Rams and opponents going forward design their coverages? Might they pull a defender out of the box and play more two-high coverage, thus leaving more room for the running game? Will they just lean coverage toward Pickens or Johnson? But, which one? 

No matter what, Johnson’s return should help the offense exponentially.