In this series of articles, our resident tape wizard Greg Cosell will take an in-depth look at some of the more interesting fantasy players for the 2020 NFL season. It’s a peek behind the curtain of the film room, as these are Greg’s raw, unfiltered notes he takes as he watches a player.
We apologize profusely for being one of the main drivers of the Diontae Johnson hype train. While he wasn’t exactly a “sleeper,” it seems everyone has decided at the same time that the Steelers really know their WRs, and the return of Ben Roethlisberger could produce a huge season for the second-year pro. Hey, the Steelers have had a lot of success with route-running technicians from the MAC in the past.
Let’s head to the film and break down Johnson’s rookie season.
Film Observations
Johnson stats: 59/680/5 (92 targets, 11.5 YPR)
Johnson lined up in multiple positions but was predominantly the boundary X. In twins and trips, Johnson was predominantly the outside receiver with plus splits, but also played snaps inside in the slot.
The Steelers featured Johnson on shallow crossers and in the screen game, with the shallow crossers at times part of the mesh concept. Johnson showed excellent run-after-catch quickness and elusiveness.
Johnson was used on jet sweeps and orbit reverses to take advantage of his play speed and run-after-catch ability.
Johnson was featured running quick slants when he aligned to the boundary. These came on two-man route concepts like slant-flat and curl-flat. The Steelers even did this to the field at times.
Early in the season Johnson did not yet understand how to run vertical routes from plus spit alignments. He widened his stem on his release, squeezing himself to the sideline, which makes it easier to be covered and gives the QB less room to drop the ball in the bucket.
Johnson showed excellent quickness in and out of breaks at the top of his route stem, he stopped on a dime and changed direction to create separation.
What stood out on tape overall was Johnson showed plus route quickness and separation quickness versus man coverage – 18-yard reception versus Cards is a great example, against 2-man coverage.
Johnson showed a good feel for attacking the cushion of off-coverage corners with his vertical stem, getting them to turn and run to create separation on intermediate routes.
The Steelers’ approach with Johnson was to try to get him the ball on the move. They did this with vertical routes, crossers, over routes, sail routes, slants, pivot routes, “bang” 8s, screens – play to his run-after-catch ability.
Johnson’s explosive plays in 2019 came on busted coverages and/or poor defense – he has vertical play speed but needs work versus press man when aligned at boundary X with his releases off the line of scrimmage.
Johnson showed inconsistent hands at times, he must improve his ability to make the tougher catches.
Johnson has a lot to work with entering his second season. He showcased play speed, route and separation quickness, run-after-catch, etc. Johnson is naturally quick with some twitch and suddenness to his movement.
To become a more viable vertical dimension, Johnson must improve his releases versus press man coverage but he has the speed to get on top of corners – 29-yard TD versus the Jets an example.
The question going forward: will Johnson continue to be the Steelers’ boundary X receiver, or will he become more of a movement receiver with more snaps at Z and the slot? The answer will depend on how the Steelers see Chase Claypool.
My sense watching Johnson is that he could be a highly effective movement and/or slot receiver with his natural quickness and excellent run-after-catch ability.
