Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson will be hoping for more spectacular plays like this during the upcoming season as he hopes to earn a new contract.

Today (July 5th 2022), marks the 26th birthday for the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson, who has so far managed to put together quite an impressive little resume when it comes to his time in the National Football League.

Having been taken in the 3rd round of the 2019 draft, he was able to make a pretty instant impact on the Steelers offense, putting up 650 yards and 5 touchdowns across the season, and this was whilst the team were having to play with backup quarterbacks Mason Rudolph and Devlin ‘Duck’ Hodges for a large part of the season.

That was reflected when the Steelers were able to get starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger back in 2020, and as a result saw him jump to 923 yards and 7 touchdowns before growing even further to reach his first 1,000-yard season in 2021 as he registered 1,161 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Needs to keep it up

These numbers are certainly encouraging, but he will need to keep playing like that this season, not just for the team’s sake, but his own.

The Steelers are set to have a new face at quarterback this season, whether it be free agent signing Mitch Trubiksy or 1st round draft pick Kenny Pickett, the one thing that they are going to need is someone that they can consistently rely on to catch passes as they get used to the new system.

Not only that, but he is heading into the final year of his rookie contract, so he needs to make sure those numbers don’t drop if he is to have any chance of getting a new deal for himself heading into the 2023 season. 

But as Johnson showed at the start of last campaign, he has got plenty in the tank that can help out anybody that’s throwing a pass to him.

Great hands, greater feet

Playing against the Buffalo Bills, a defence that would end the season giving up the fewest passing yards of anyone in the league, Johnson and the Steelers got off to the perfect start to the season as they came away with a 23-16 win at Highmark Stadium. 

Their first and only touchdown of the day came from Johnson as he took a pass in the corner of the endzone despite incredibly tight coverage, whilst also managing to juggle and keep his feet in bounds throughout the duration to give the Steelers the lead:

A couple more plays like this, and the Steelers quarterback, whoever that ends up being, will almost certainly be a very happy man.