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When it comes to professional sports in the city of Pittsburgh, the fans are as passionate as they come. The Terrible Towel is a known staple not only to football fans, but sports fans across the world. People from all over pay attention, cheer for, and against the team in black and gold. On any given Sunday in the fall, fans in the city of Pittsburgh will conjugate at their homes, the local watering hole or Heinz Field to cheer on their beloved Pittsburgh Steelers.
When it comes to playing for the black and gold, it comes with a an expectation that the athlete will be under a level of scrutiny for any mistake made on the field. No one has been subject to this treatment more than Diontae Johnson. He has been booed and critiqued by many Steelers fans over his first three years in Pittsburgh. After looking deeper into his stats, it was quite surprising to see how he compared to other ‘big name’ receivers in the game and it raised the question “why is he so criticized?”
In 2019, the Steelers went into the season without a true number one receiver. After the departure of Antonio Brown, they expected JuJu Smith-Schuster to take over the lead role but quickly saw a decline in his numbers without the Pro Bowl receiver playing on the other side of him. After the lack of production from JuJu, they started turning to rookie receiver Diontae Johsnon for answers. By the end of the season, Johnson was seeing close to 80% of the snaps and roughly 10 targets per game.
2020 for Johnson did not go as expected. The receiver had high hopes from Steelers fans. He did end up with over 900 yards receiving and 7 touchdowns, but that didn’t come without the cost of a league leading 13 drops. The criticism was swirling and fans were calling for him to be benched.
The 2021 season was a night and day difference. Johnson had over 1,100 yards receiving, with 107 targets and 8 touchdowns. All of this was done while only recording 7 drops (including the postseason), yet Johnson was still called out by Steelers fans to be benched. Sure, all of Johnson’s 7 drops occurred in the last 6 games, but after comparing Johnson’s stats to other star receivers, it appears his drop problem isn’t as significant as people think.
Johnson, when compared to other receivers such as Keenan Allen, Deebo Samuel, and D.J Moore had less drops and a similar amount of targets. Johnson also had more touchdowns than all three, yet they didn’t face as much criticism and Johnson did. Also, Johnson had touchdowns in key moments in wins against the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens.
So, Steelers fans can give Diontae a break and be thankful that they do indeed have a true number one receiver on the offense. And if the rumors that have been reported are true about Johnson wanting $15 million per year for his next contract, the Steelers must sign him long-term and lock up Johnson for years to come.
What do you think of Diontae Johnson so far? Leave a comment in the comment section below!
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
When it comes to playing for the black and gold, it comes with a an expectation that the athlete will be under a level of scrutiny for any mistake made on the field. No one has been subject to this treatment more than Diontae Johnson. He has been booed and critiqued by many Steelers fans over his first three years in Pittsburgh. After looking deeper into his stats, it was quite surprising to see how he compared to other ‘big name’ receivers in the game and it raised the question “why is he so criticized?”
In 2019, the Steelers went into the season without a true number one receiver. After the departure of Antonio Brown, they expected JuJu Smith-Schuster to take over the lead role but quickly saw a decline in his numbers without the Pro Bowl receiver playing on the other side of him. After the lack of production from JuJu, they started turning to rookie receiver Diontae Johsnon for answers. By the end of the season, Johnson was seeing close to 80% of the snaps and roughly 10 targets per game.
2020 for Johnson did not go as expected. The receiver had high hopes from Steelers fans. He did end up with over 900 yards receiving and 7 touchdowns, but that didn’t come without the cost of a league leading 13 drops. The criticism was swirling and fans were calling for him to be benched.
The 2021 season was a night and day difference. Johnson had over 1,100 yards receiving, with 107 targets and 8 touchdowns. All of this was done while only recording 7 drops (including the postseason), yet Johnson was still called out by Steelers fans to be benched. Sure, all of Johnson’s 7 drops occurred in the last 6 games, but after comparing Johnson’s stats to other star receivers, it appears his drop problem isn’t as significant as people think.
Johnson, when compared to other receivers such as Keenan Allen, Deebo Samuel, and D.J Moore had less drops and a similar amount of targets. Johnson also had more touchdowns than all three, yet they didn’t face as much criticism and Johnson did. Also, Johnson had touchdowns in key moments in wins against the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens.
So, Steelers fans can give Diontae a break and be thankful that they do indeed have a true number one receiver on the offense. And if the rumors that have been reported are true about Johnson wanting $15 million per year for his next contract, the Steelers must sign him long-term and lock up Johnson for years to come.
What do you think of Diontae Johnson so far? Leave a comment in the comment section below!
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
