Rookie WR Johnson showcasing ‘sweet feet’
LATROBE 鈥� If the Pittsburgh Steelers hadn鈥檛 already nicknamed their new offensive line coach 鈥淪weet Feet,鈥� they would surely use it on their rookie wide receiver Diontae Johnson.
The surprise third-round draft pick out of Toledo started camp slowly with ugly drops each day 鈥� this after an injury-plagued and poorly conditioned spring.
But in the last two practices 鈥� both in pads 鈥� Johnson has showcased his sweet feet for at least three big plays:
n In 鈥淪even Shots鈥� on Sunday, Johnson shook safety Kameron Kelly with a quick and subtle move that was so sweet he was five feet open along the back line for an easy touchdown pass from Mason Rudolph.
n On Monday, Johnson caught a slant inside from Rudolph and immediately came to a dead stop to let cornerback Justin Layne pass by. Johnson then cut outside for a big gain down the sideline.
n And in the next period, Johnson made that same cut the opposite way. He took a short out, stopped, and let Kelly run by him before cutting back, inside this time, for a big gain through the middle.
All of this after a surprisingly stout blocking period to open practice when his 183 pounds shoved Brian Allen, P.J. Locke and Marcelis Branch around seemingly at his will.
After a sluggish start with the Steelers, Johnson is making the scouts and coaches 鈥� who said they HAD to draft him before well-known prospects such as Hakeem Butler 鈥� look pretty smart.
鈥淵eah, there鈥檚 no doubt he can play,鈥� said offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. 鈥淭he thing about having a past, I know the day that AB got here; I know the day Emmanuel (Sanders) got here; I know the workout Mike Wallace had. I was there at all their pro days. I watched them then, I saw them in the draft, I saw them when they got here Day One, and I saw what they were when they left. And the truth with every single one of them is that it never really lights up like you want at that position in Game One. Or if they are playing, they鈥檙e not playing like a 1, 2, or 3, more like a 3.5 or 4. But you have to play. The more Diontae plays and the more time spends with our strength coach and adds that natural 10 pounds of strength, he鈥檒l come in just like some of those guys.鈥�
Of the three receivers Fichtner mentioned, Johnson compares physically to to Antonio Brown, who came out of a MAC school at 5-10, 186 with a 4.48 40.
Johnson came out of his MAC school at 5-10, 183 with a 4.53 40.
鈥淣ow in no way am I ever comparing them,鈥� Fichtner said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just using experiences. And the experience is that AB wasn鈥檛 quite ready to be in our receivers mix full-time, and yet he returned a kickoff against Tennessee early in his career, and then he was good on punt returns, and then he did a lot of nice things, and then in game 10, 11 or 13, he started making some plays as a receiver, and then he catches this ball against his helmet and puts us in the Super Bowl. From there he became Antonio Brown. So I鈥檓 not under the illusion that 18 (Johnson) has to go out there in Game One and whup Stephen Gilmore. We鈥檝e got veteran guys. We鈥檝e got more guys. But we might have to suck up three or four plays in a game where we go 鈥極h, man, here鈥檚 a rookie.鈥� But there鈥檒l be a point where it鈥檚 going to click and everything鈥檚 going to be there 鈥� the physical part, the mental part 鈥� and then all of the sudden I think you鈥檙e going to see the talent just flow and he鈥檚 not going to be unlike any of those others. The good problem would be several years from now we鈥檒l be trying to figure out how we鈥檙e going to keep him. That鈥檚 how I feel about him, because I really feel that he鈥檚 got really good talent.鈥�
The problem in the spring was that Johnson was poorly conditioned due to the draft circuit, and when his hamstring tightened, the coaching staff cut his workload way down. They wanted him to be healthy enough to get in shape over the summer and report to training camp ready to go.
He did exactly that, but, as Fichnter pointed out, he still wasn鈥檛 in NFL shape.
鈥淒iontae started getting tired (Sunday) at the end,鈥� Fichtner said. 鈥淗is finish wasn鈥檛 quite like some of the pros were, so he鈥檚 got a long way to go in that regard. But you see he鈥檚 a natural talent. He鈥檚 an extension-catcher. He鈥檚 quick in and out of cuts. He does very similar things to those past guys who were built very similarly when they were young. I can鈥檛 say that he can ever be some of those guys, but he has the right stuff to do that. I just know those guys worked their ass off.
鈥淏ut, he did make it through the whole practice. He didn鈥檛 give into it. He wanted to. He looked at me right there at the end of team (scrimmage) and was like 鈥楥oach I鈥檓 tired, man.鈥� I asked about his hammies and he said 鈥業鈥檓 fine, just tired.鈥� I told him 鈥榊ou鈥檝e got to finish. We鈥檝e got three more plays.鈥� We pushed him to finish and he realized he didn鈥檛 die.鈥�
The next day Johnson was even better. He not only finished, he finished strong. Johnson was running the final routes with and against third-teamers well past when the clock on the wall said 0:00. Johnson didn鈥檛 even look to Fichtner for relief.
Afterwards, Johnson did pushups with the wide receiver group and then raced up the hill past autograph seekers to get in a lift before dinner. He even did a brief interview on the fly.
鈥淚t鈥檚 coming,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been able to get my legs up under me with these pads on, and every day my wind鈥檚 picking up. Getting my wind, that鈥檚 my main focus.鈥�
That and learning the playbook, which he says will make his play even smoother.
Fichtner went deep to describe how smooth a receiver Johnson already is.
鈥淲hen the ball鈥檚 in the air, he鈥檚 not a drifter,鈥� Fichtner said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 always shaving towards the football, and when you shave to the football naturally, like Santonio Holmes, AB, Hines, that means you鈥檙e extremely confident in your ability to snatch the football, because it鈥檚 getting you closer to that ball quicker, with extension, and not only did we buy a half a yard with the DB, but if I鈥檓 an extension catcher I鈥檝e gained another yard, OK? So, he does that naturally.
鈥淚 know separation鈥檚 tough. And that鈥檚 where that strength comes into play and that鈥檚 where that toughness comes into play and you鈥檝e gotta be strong. I would love if we could fast-forward a year of him with (strength coach) Garrett Giemont. I would say, whoa, OK. Now we have a player.鈥�
After a shaky start, it looks like they might at that.