Diontae Johnson

Fantasy Upside

Diontae Johnson had a rocky final season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but with his post-Roethlisberger quarterback situation in 2022-23, that shouldn't have come as a surprise. Now, he finds himself in a new home and should operate as the no-doubt No. 1 option with the Panthers. Carolina had their own offensive issues but brought on new head coach Dave Canales who has had an incredible recent history with turning quarterbacks into far better options. Both Johnson and the Panthers' rocky 2023 have made Johnson a cheap-ish option who returns far better fantasy production than draft capital would indicate.

Fantasy Downside
There is no guarantee that Bryce Young and the offense in general will be better than last season. In 2023, the team failed to score 10+ points on four occasions from Weeks 11-18, and miraculously closed the year out with back-to-back shutouts, a near impossible feat in modern-day football. Along with Johnson, the team also added first-round pick Xavier Legette and second-round running back Jonathon Brooks, each of whom could threaten an oversized touch share for the veteran wide receiver.

2024 Bottom Line
Diontae Johnson is on the short list of skill position players who aren't recovering from injury but could have a huge bounceback season due purely to a change of scenery. Johnson offers his new quarterback the sort of separation specialist that this team sorely needed last year when they were relying heavily on a past-his-prime Adam Thielen. Even Thielen found some success before fading down the stretch, rolling into Week 12 as the fantasy WR11. Johnson has legit WR2 upside and could end up being a very consistent threat throughout the season.

Week 16 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Diontae Johnson didn't score a touchdown last season, but scored one last week which makes it three straight games with a touchdown. He also had four receptions for 62 yards. Johnson has not been getting the catches we are used to, but he has been the Steelers best receiver during this stretch that has seen the offense struggle as a whole.

Johnson faces the Bengals who are ranked 25th in aFPA to wide receivers. He had four catches for 50 yards in the first meeting with Cincy. With the Steelers quarterback issues, that might be his ceiling.

Start Johnson for Week 16 but only as a WR3 or Flex. The lack of receptions compared to what he usually gets has limited his fantasy production.

Week 14 vs. New England Patriots
Diontae Johnson got a garbage touchdown on Sunday and even though he had five receptions it was only for 33 yards. Now, we will see how much he gets the ball this Thursday as veteran QB Mitch Trubisky takes over the offense.

Don't expect much and even though the Patriots have been average against opposing receivers, this could go a lot of different directions and the short week doesn't help. Keep Johnson on the bench for Week 14.