Diontae Johnson makes bid to replace Antonio Brown in preseason debut

Diontae Johnson gave Steelers fans plenty to be excited about in his preseason debut, despite an early mishap.

Diontae Johnson made his preseason debut with the Pittsburgh Steelers Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs. Johnson, the third-round pick out of Toledo, finished the night with three receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown.

Johnson had a rough start, muffing his first punt return attempt, though he was able to fall on it for the recovery. Following that hiccup, the 66th overall pick proceeded to carve out in impressive night.

Johnson fell victim to a very questionable offensive pass interference call that stood following Mike Tomlin’s challenge. Johnson streaked down the far sideline and spotted the back-shoulder throw from Joshua Dobbs and snagged what would have been a quality first touchdown for the rookie receiver.

As if to spite the call, Johnson later one-upped himself with his first official touchdown of 24-yards late in the fourth quarter. With an impressive double-move against the corner, Johnson created enough separation for Dalvin Hodges to drop a pass into the endzone for Johnson to make the diving catch. Though the ball touched the ground, this one stood.

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Johnson missed the preseason opener vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a groin injury. He’s spent much of the offseason dealing with injuries, first a hamstring in the Spring and a hip at the top of training camp. It’s a relief for Steelers fans that Johnson is not only finally on the field, but looks to have an opportunity to contribute in the regular season.

Johnson is an interesting specimen for the Steelers. Pittsburgh has taken receivers early in recent years despite rugularly fielding the one of the NFL’s most talented groups for some time now. Though, Johnson was the first selection following Brown’s departure and shares many of the qualities Brown had coming out of Central Michigan.

With James Washington having an impressive start to his sophomore season, and JuJu Smith-Schuster, Donte Moncrief and Ryan Switzer proven commodities, the Steelers look to have built quite the receiving corp without Antonio Brown.