Diontae Johnson purchased a tennis ball machine in the offseason. It wasn’t so he could improve his volley or sharpen his backhand.
After leading the NFL in drops last season, the young Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver bought the machine so he could improve his concentration and hand-eye coordination.
“It’s a smaller target so you have to really focus on the ball and the object coming at you,” Johnson said this past week at the team’s minicamp. “That’s what I’ve been honing on to. Now, when I catch the football it’s easy.
“It’s always been easy to me, but it’s keeping that focus and that confidence.”
Both traits were shaken in the second half of last season and even resulted in Johnson being benched for the final 25 minutes of the first half in a December game at Buffalo. Despite improving upon his rookie numbers and leading the Steelers with 923 receiving yards on 88 catches, it was the number of drops among his team-high 144 targets that gnawed at Johnson.
Calculating a drop is an inexact exercise, which is why it is a subjective and unofficial statistic. Sports Info Solutions estimated that Johnson dropped 16 passes. Pro Football Reference pegged the number at 13. Other services lowered the number to 10.
No matter, it was too many for Johnson and the Steelers to accept.
“It was just focus,” said Johnson, who also had a team-high six drops in 2019 as a rookie. “Just taking my eye off the ball that one split second. Drop the ball right there and it goes in the back of your mind and you constantly think about stuff like that. That’s the main thing – focus and making sure you look at the ball all the way in before you run. Focus on the catch first, run second.”
Too frequently it was the other way around, particularly on the quick passes from Ben Roethlisberger. Sports Info Solutions calculated that 14 of Johnson’s 16 drops were on passes within five yards of the line of scrimmage.
The issue, however, wasn’t singular to Johnson. One stat service estimated the Steelers collectively accounted for 30 dropped passes, second-most in the NFL. Tight end Eric Ebron had seven drops, and rookie receiver Chase Claypool totaled six.
“Drops are part of the game, but obviously we had too many balls on the ground,” said Ike Hilliard, who is entering his second year as Steelers wide receivers coach. “It’s been discussed, and our group understands and knows we have to do a better job of not putting the ball on the ground. Work at it every day and be cognizant of limiting drops as we go forward into the season.”
The mistakes were magnified in a 23-17 loss to Washington, the first for the Steelers following an 11-0 start. Johnson accounted for three of the drops, prompting coach Mike Tomlin to declare: “They can catch the ball or they can get replaced by those who will catch it.”
When Johnson couldn’t corral third-down passes on the first two drives the next week against Buffalo, he found himself on the bench for the next seven possessions. In the second half, he did catch all three of his targets.
“I’ve got to catch the ball. That’s my job,” he said. “I’m a receiver and that’s what I’m paid to do. There are no excuses behind that. It all ties down to focus and knowing what I’m doing all the time. When a bad play happens, you have to move on, you can’t dwell on it.”
Johnson’s catch-and-run ability, a reason the Steelers selected him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, is dynamic enough that the organization was willing to keep him in the lineup. And he was a key contributor in the 48-37 wild-card playoff loss to Cleveland, catching 11 passes for 117 yards.
“Last year is last year,” Tomlin said when asked about Johnson’s past hiccups. “Everyone starts anew as far as I’m concerned.”
Hilliard sees Johnson becoming a better wide receiver because of the adversity he faced in 2020.
“It’s part of maturity and growth,” he said. “We know that our guys are not out there trying to play poorly. We’re all professionals, and we are trying to get it right. Diontae is no different. He handled it like a pro. He continues to work diligently.
“We’re going to hopefully see another giant step for him as a pro in this game, and he’s going to be a big part of what we do.”
If Johnson becomes a more consistent receiver this year, he’ll have that tennis ball machine to thank for it.
“I’ve really been believing in myself every time I step on the field,” he said. “Knowing every time the ball comes to me, I’m going to make the catch regardless of where it is at. That’s what I’ve been doing, and I’m going to keep doing it.”
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at jrutter@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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