OT: The Pittsburgher Thread: 2022 Handball season has arrived!

[MrBrightside]

Why is it one more year with DJ? They gave him a 2 year extension that hasn’t even kicked in.

Correct. He's under contract through the 2024 season.

Diontae Johnson Contract Details, Salary Cap Charges, Bonus Money, and Contract History | Over The Cap

Diontae Johnson contract and salary cap details, including signing bonus, guaranteed salary, dead money, roster bonuses, and contract history

overthecap.com

 

[JTG]

I just cannot see them going into next season with a WR corps consisting of a 2nd year guy in Pickens, a draft pick, a mid-round WR from this year who hasn't played, and 2-3 jobbers like Sims and Boykin. The Ravens try to get by with shit like this every year and it's the biggest issue they have - just because Johnson isn't a true #1 WR doesn't mean he doesn't have value.

He has value, but not here. I think Johnson honestly forces his way out of here this offseason. He'll do it quietly, but Pickens is the #1. Johnson isn't going to stick around to not get as many balls as he wants, and Pickett clearly doesn't like throwing to him. It may be tough next season at the WR spot, but it is what it is. This draft is really weak at WR.

 

[Flying Dego]

Put him with the chiefs he the clear number 1 Wr right now that is juju. He would be top 10 Wr easy.

Maybe you don't watch much of the Chiefs. They have this guy named Travis that is the #1 pass catcher. Mahomes spreads the ball to a bunch of recievers. How does DJ do anything different there?

Is he gonna complain when Kelce gets the bulk of targets?

 

[Peat]

I don't really disagree with a lot of the analysis on Johnson, but I disagree with the way people are focusing on it.

Pickett's development is the priority. I don't think Pickett's development is going to be well served by a WR corps where George Pickens is the most experienced WR, and the only major WR he's thrown at for more than a year. If people want to bring up examples of good passing QBs developing in scenarios like that I'm all ears, but I mainly see teams avoiding that at all costs.

Maybe Johnson at 18m isn't the the answer you'd pick for avoiding that but he's the answer we've got and it's not a garbage answer if he's used right.

If people have an answer on moving Johnson on that covers not giving Pickett a garbo WR room, I'm again all ears. Dumping him and just using a 2nd rounder on WR isn't it. If people want to reunite him with Addison I'm listening, but most of the mocks and big boards I've seen says you've got to use the first pick on him. Free agency isn't deep. If people were advocating moving Johnson and using the pick as part of targeting a big name WR in trade to add I'd listen.

But if people aren't doing that, I'd rather keep him as the best chance of Pickett becoming the sort of QB where the question of whether Johnson is a true #1 is more than academic. Doesn't necessarily have to be for long. But next season at least.

 

[bigdaddyk88]

Maybe you don't watch much of the Chiefs. They have this guy named Travis that is the #1 pass catcher. Mahomes spreads the ball to a bunch of recievers. How does DJ do anything different there?

Is he gonna complain when Kelce gets the bulk of targets?

That is why i said WR. Yeah Travis gets the most targets on the team.
Juju leads the wr group with 99 the next guy on the list is mvs with 75
Our big 3 are DJ with 131 Muth with 99 and 75 from GP. Claypool 50 targets is 4th for us

 

[MrBrightside]

So if Buffalo and KC both win this weekend and they make the AFC Championship Game, it will be at a neutral field. This is huge as it gives Buffalo an incentive to win - if they hadn't made this change, KC would have locked up the 1-seed by winning on Saturday and the Bills would have had nothing to play for.

 

[bigdaddyk88]

Coin toss could determine location of Bengals-Ravens playoff game

On Friday, the NFL's owners will resolve various issues related to the unofficially official cancellation of the Bills-Bengals game.

profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

Wow

 

[JTG]

I will be shocked if Johnson doesn't force his way out of the organization this offseason.

 

[bigdaddyk88]

I will be shocked if Johnson doesn't force his way out of the organization this offseason.

Why would he if he wanted to leave he wouldn’t have made sure he got an extension. He knew what the Qb options were and signed forced them to extend him.

 

[SomeDude]

Put him with the chiefs he the clear number 1 Wr right now that is juju. He would be top 10 Wr easy.

I don't think that team is going to put up with a high dollar receiver with a case of the dropsies.

 

[MrBrightside]

I don't think that team is going to put up with a high dollar receiver with a case of the dropsies.

Travis Kelce leads the NFL in drops this season. So guessing they will.

 

[bigdaddyk88]

I don't think that team is going to put up with a high dollar receiver with a case of the dropsies.

Juju has the same number of Drops and MVS who they gave 3/30 has one less than DJ so combined they are making 17 million
DJ has 6 drops so far

2023 Kansas City Chiefs Advanced Wide Receiver Stats | NFL Metrics | FantasyPros

View 2023 Advanced Wide Receiver Stats for the Kansas City Chiefs including Yards After Catch, Average Depth of Targets, Catchable Passes, and more. See how WRs perform across the NFL's key metrics.

www.fantasypros.com

I don't think that team is going to put up with a high dollar receiver with a case of the dropsies.

Now it is interesting DJ leads us with 14 RZ targets Muth is 2nd with 9 and GP has 7.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

This is a way more compelling criticism of the rest of the roster than it is of Johnson.

Isn’t that the entire point that Pens56 was making though?

It’s a rebuilding roster, and your leading receiver is a smaller, even slower version of Jeff Graham.

An explosive offense can’t be built around a guy like DJ.

So the original point he made to “move on from him and try to find a legit #1” makes sense, but unfortunately the cap implications means they won’t.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Yeah he obviously has his warts. He no alpha #1 for sure, hes a competent (not special) reciever that is in an offense that is tailor made to limit what hes good at with qbs that have been tailor made to limit what hes good at.

If Ben was still good Ben the last couple years he's putting up real numbers. I have no doubt about that

Right, but again it’s a two way street.

Give KP Hill, Jefferson, AJ Brown etc, his numbers would look much better than being stuck with a physically limited possession guy as his top target.

Which again was the OP made by Pens56 - offense needs a legit #1 guy to take the next step, and he felt getting assets for DJ might help with that.

Maybe GP can be that guy, but he better start running way better routes and expanding his tree.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

Isn’t that the entire point that Pens56 was making though?

It’s a rebuilding roster, and your leading receiver is a smaller, even slower version of Jeff Graham.

An explosive offense can’t be built around a guy like DJ.

So the original point he made to “move on from him and try to find a legit #1” makes sense, but unfortunately the cap implications means they won’t.

I think they have time for that, if someone in this class falls that they think is special pull the trigger and move on.

If not go another year with DJ and GP integrate Austin. There is plenty of weapons if you get you line sorted and Pickett and Pickens continues to grow you can move on and reshuffle.

Right, but again it’s a two way street.

Give KP Hill, Jefferson, AJ Brown etc, his numbers would look much better than being stuck with a physically limited possession guy as his top target.

Sure but that is the elite tier.

Nobody is expecting or believes DJ to be that guy.

If you think that guy is available go for it. Otherwise fill your holes give KP and GP time to grow into themselvess and move on in a uear or two.

 

[Pens1566]

Put him with the chiefs he the clear number 1 Wr right now that is juju. He would be top 10 Wr easy.

He can't even outproduce Muth, and you think he'll do more than Kelce? Lol, ok.

 

[bigdaddyk88]

He can't even outproduce Muth, and you think he'll do more than Kelce? Lol, ok.

I said clear Wr 1 not clear target leader I would love to see what he could with juju 99 targets from Maholmes.
KP security blanket is muth its why he is 2nd on our team in targets muth

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I think they have time for that, if someone in this class falls that they think is special pull the trigger and move on.

If not go another year with DJ and GP integrate Austin. There is plenty of weapons if you get you line sorted and Pickett and Pickens continues to grow you can move on and reshuffle.



Sure but that is the elite tier.

Nobody is expecting or believes DJ to be that guy.

If you think that guy is available go for it. Otherwise fill your holes give KP and GP time to grow into themselvess and move on in a uear or two.

We’ll see about GP next year. His route running will have to improve dramatically, but that’s what the off-season is for.

If DJ is pushing 100 catches again and getting the bulk of the touches, this offense will still be ass IMHO.

 

[JTG]

Why would he if he wanted to leave he wouldn’t have made sure he got an extension. He knew what the Qb options were and signed forced them to extend him.

Why wouldn't he have made sure he got an extension? Think about what you're saying. It's a league where you can sign a deal today and force yourself off the team tomorrow. He knows how the Steelers operate - "volunteers not hostages."

It won't even be very hard for him to get a trade.

 

[Flying Dego]

I said clear Wr 1 not clear target leader I would love to see what he could with juju 99 targets from Maholmes.
KP security blanket is muth its why he is 2nd on our team in targets muth

Well we know he would drop a fair amount. He also would not magically become a deep threat or a guy that breaks tackles. He wouldn't be the red zone target.

What exactly would change with him other than a better passing QB. Mahomes can't fix his deficiencies.

Andy Reid would not make a lethargic playmaker his focal point of a high octane offense.

Now if you're related to DJ, I apologize it's nothing against the person. He's just not a guy I want as this offenses focal point.

What is our greatest struggle?
Getting in the endzone.

What is DJ really poor at doing?
Getting in the endzone.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I said clear Wr 1 not clear target leader I would love to see what he could with juju 99 targets from Maholmes.
KP security blanket is muth its why he is 2nd on our team in targets muth

What makes DJ any better than JuJu?

Neither guy is a burner and JuJu has better hands and at least runs with some power when he has the ball.

JuJu is playing with Mahomes and is avg like 45 yards a game over the last 7.

DJ wouldn’t perform much better than JuJu because Mahomes can’t catch the ball for him or make the guy run faster.

Mahomes doesn’t magically transform someone into an elite receiver.

For about the fifth time, the Steelers passing game is designed around feeding the ball to a small, slow receiver that has atrocious YAC and bad hands.

Good luck to any QB when that’s his ‘premiere’ weapon.

 

[ziggyjoe212]

Juju has the same number of Drops and MVS who they gave 3/30 has one less than DJ so combined they are making 17 million
DJ has 6 drops so far

2023 Kansas City Chiefs Advanced Wide Receiver Stats | NFL Metrics | FantasyPros

View 2023 Advanced Wide Receiver Stats for the Kansas City Chiefs including Yards After Catch, Average Depth of Targets, Catchable Passes, and more. See how WRs perform across the NFL's key metrics.

www.fantasypros.com

Now it is interesting DJ leads us with 14 RZ targets Muth is 2nd with 9 and GP has 7.

Let's be honest. Anyone who watches Steelers football knows DJ has more than 6 drops this season. I don't know how they determine what a "drop" is, but DJ 100% has more than 10 drops this year.

 

[Goalie_Bob]

Why do you believe the Steelers passing game is designed around DJ? I don't think it is designed correctly at all, period.

And trying to say that DJ isn't performing while other players are is just false. Pickens while he show flashes is very raw and makes mistakes all the time, how many times has he stepped out of bounds and then come in to catch the ball? I would not be happy with him as the only receiver of note for Kenny next season. With all his "greatness" he has 3 TDs this year.

And Muth, while I do think he is having a good season, he has 2 TDs.

This isn't a case of Pickens and Muth having 8TDs and DJ having zero. This is a case of an ineffective OC that doesn't know how to call plays and scheme, especially in the red zone combined with a rookie QB that doesn't know how to throw people open especially in the red zone.

Now don't get me wrong. I do not believe DJ is a true #1 receiver. But he can be a good #2, especially if you know, they threw a slant every once in awhile. Does a slant even exist in Canada's playbook?

 

[ziggyjoe212]

What makes DJ any better than JuJu?

Neither guy is a burner and JuJu has better hands and at least runs with some power when he has the ball.

JuJu is playing with Mahomes and is avg like 45 yards a game over the last 7.

DJ wouldn’t perform much better than JuJu because Mahomes can’t catch the ball for him or make the guy run faster.

Mahomes doesn’t magically transform someone into an elite receiver.

For about the fifth time, the Steelers passing game is designed around feeding the ball to a small, slow receiver that has atrocious YAC and bad hands.

Good luck to any QB when that’s his ‘premiere’ weapon.

I'm sick of DJ's drop as much as any Steelers fan, but this is an unfair assessment of him. He's one of the best route runners in the league and is shifty and is good in open space. Problem is that our passing offense is awful and he's forced to run short routes here. We're unable to give him the ball in space because a) Kenny isn't good enough (yet?) and b) Canada is a bad OC.
DJ would thrive on a team like the Chiefs.

He had 100 catches 1167 yds 8td last year with Ben's shadow as his QB.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

We’ll see about GP next year. His route running will have to improve dramatically, but that’s what the off-season is for.

If DJ is pushing 100 catches again and getting the bulk of the touches, this offense will still be ass IMHO.

If you dropped in Randy Moss for DJ, I think this offense still is ass this year. KP hasn't been able to refine his deep ball, the Oline still is a WIP, and KP scrambles a bit too soon to let deep stuff develop.

I'm in no way a DJ fan and his cap # is irrelevant as the Steelers aren't up against it. So for the sake of continuity, give KP his same starting WR's for next season and then upgrade the following year if DJ still shows as mediocre.