Steelers Star WR Gets Major Boost After Bye

The Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver room is about to be trouble for opposing defenses.
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers will get Diontae Johnson back after the bye week, which, in it's self, is a major boost for the offense. But what it'll do for his fellow star wide receiver is going to make this team much more dangerous. 

In Johnson's absence, George Pickens have elevated his game to a new level. In three games, Pickens has caught 13 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown, while becoming the Steelers' WR1 for Kenny Pickett. 

"It's helped him," wide receivers coach Frisman Jackson told All Steelers. "It's helped him in a sense of, he understands that teams know he's the main target. He's going to get the ball. So, he's had to fight through and see coverages and see how teams are going to play him. He'll have to go out there and make the play. The great receivers in this league, historically and that's playing right now, everybody in the building knows that person is going to get the ball. Can you still go make the play? He's been tested with that. He's made some plays."

That development won't go anywhere, but should only increase with Johnson coming back. The fifth-year receiver said "hell yeah," he'll be back on the field when the team returns from the bye week, after missing the last three games with a hamstring injury. 

And having both targets back is only going to make the group more lethal. 

"Man, we've got two legit wideouts," Jackson said. "So, they want to double-team George, we got a legit wideout on the the side that's got a history in this league, that could go make plays and win one-on-one. Diontae's one of the best route runners in the National Football League. So, having him on the other side over there and having two legit wideouts. If they want to cover Diontae, George can win. We've got some answers if things want to do things. I'm excited to have Diontae back and have my room back at full strength." 

The expectations for the group as a whole will rise with the return of Johnson, but there aren't any expectations coming out of the locker room that Pickens will do less than he's done in his absence. 

All having Johnson does for the second-year star is clear up more space. He's officially a star in this league, and one that is going to be treated like one. One that's now expected to continue to produce like one.

"We expect him, I expect him, our offense expects him to continue the trend of the way he's been moving," Jackson said. "He's been moving in an upward trend and kind of taking some of the challenges that I've put out in front of him, that we've put out in front of him as an organization, about getting more yards after the catch as a skillset. So far, he's been able to do that."

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Noah Strackbein
NOAH STRACKBEIN

Noah is the Publisher for All Steelers, Inside the Panthers (InsideThePanthers.com) and Inside the Penguins (InsidethePenguins.com), and is the host of All Steelers Talk (YouTube.com/AllSteelersTalk). A Scranton native, Noah made his way to the Pittsburgh sports scene in 2017. Now, he's pretty much full-yinzer.