The Steelers are sending WR Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers. A new weapon for Bryce Young. Johnson has a $3 million roster bonus due Friday that the Panthers now will pay.

Related Players: George Pickens, Calvin Austin, Dez Fitzpatrick, Adam Thielen, Terrace Marshall, Jonathan Mingo

This is certainly good news for Bryce Young after the team brought him on board with arguably the worst pass-catching unit in the NFL last year. Johnson should instantly become the focal point of this offense, but the team still desperately needs help at WR, TE, and RB before we get too excited about the Panthers in fantasy.

For the Steelers, this also has them trending in the wrong direction on excitement-level, but it makes George Pickens very intriguing. This puts him in the conversation for a fringe WR2/3, not unlike Courtland Sutton with Russell Wilson the last two seasons.

Steelers have everyone status quo or updated on today’s injury report except Isaac Seumalo (DNP again) and Diontae Johnson, who missed with a knee injury. TJ Watt (full) and Alex Highsmith (limited) remain on track. Najee Harris and Damontae Kazee were full participants.

Related Players: George Pickens, Pat Freiermuth, Allen Robinson

Johnson has been very unproductive since his first three games off the IR, topping 50 yards receiving only once in the last five games (57 yards last week). His catch rate has plummeted to 56.1%, which ranks 90th out of 100 qualifying receivers.
George Pickens was routinely productive while Johnson was sidelined, and has four games with 80+ receiving yards on the season. He would get a nice bump if his teammate were to miss Week 15.

Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick (hamstring) is out again Sunday, while WR George Pickens (shin) fully participated today and is good to go against the Bengals.

Related Players: Diontae Johnson, Allen Robinson

Pickens' target participation has predictably plummeted since the return of Diontae Johnson, and he has 104 total receiving yards in his last four games combined. Will new OC Eddie Faulkner get Pickens going in Week 12? It's possible, but he can't be trusted as more than a FLEX play at this point.

Diontae Johnson popped up today as a DNP with a hamstring injury. That's not good news.

Related Players: George Pickens, Allen Robinson, Calvin Austin III

Upsetting news, so fresh off the IR. Pickens began to pop when Johnson was away from the field, but there's an argument to be made that Johnson could help Pickens truly hit some upside potential down field with both playing. Robinson and Austin are nominally interesting in deep leagues for desperate owners.

The Steelers activated WR Diontae Johnson from injured reserve and placed TE Pat Freiermuth on injured reserve.

Johnson is now able to play Sunday against the Rams. Freiermuth, on the other hand, is now out at least four games after aggravating his hamstring injury Thursday. Freiermuth will at miss games against the Rams, Jaguars, Titans and Packers. The Steelers are coming off their bye week. Johnson is a flex option in a tough matchup against the Rams and gives Kenny Pickett another weapon back. He’s a mid-tier QB2.

The Steelers returned from their bye week by welcoming a couple of players back to practice.

Wide receiver Diontae Johnson and running back Anthony McFarland have both been designated to return from injured reserve. Both players can practice with the team for the next 21 days before they reach a deadline to be activated or shut down for the season.

As we reported last week, Johnson doesn’t plan to use much of that window to get back into playing shape after hurting his hamstring in the season opener. He said he plans to play against the Rams in Week 7, the story said. Johnson seemed pretty confident last week but continue to monitor his status this week.

Pittsburgh receiver Diontae Johnson has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since Week 1. But he’s planning to return when the Steelers take on the Rams after the bye.

“Hell yeah, I’m coming back,” Johnson said Tuesday, via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I have been working my behind off these last three, four weeks. … Today was one of those days to see how far I have come along, and everything looks great out there to [the training staff]."

Johnson caught three passes for 48 yards in the season opener before going down with the hamstring injury. He’s been on injured reserve but can be designated to return for the Week 7 matchup, the story said. He added that, “I felt completely great and healthy, so I am ready for Monday when we come back to start getting back to work.”

The #Steelers placed WR Diontae Johnson on IR.

Related players: George Pickens, Allen Robinson, Calvin Austin III

A prime example of why we can't always trust players when it comes to their own injuries: Johnson claimed to be day-to-day after the Week 1 injury, but now finds himself missing the next four games. The earliest he can come back is Week 7. Pickens, Robinson and Austin will be the team's top-three WRs. Austin, at least, is likely still on your waiver wire and could be worth a look in deeper leagues.

Steelers’ WR Diontae Johnson is expected to be sidelined “a few weeks” due to the hamstring injury he suffered Sunday vs. the 49ers, per source.

Related players: George Pickens, Allen Robinson, Calvin Austin III

It's a big blow to the Steelers offense as Johnson was expected to bounce back this season after not scoring a touchdown all of last year. We'll have to wait word for how long Johnson misses, and now the big fear is the team places him on IR, which means he'd potentially miss the next four games. Pickens and Robinson likely take over the top-two roles at WR, but Austin could sneak into the fantasy-relevant category as well.

Steelers WR Diontae Johnson has been ruled out for the remainder of Sunday's game against the 49ers with a hamstring injury.

Johnson immediately grabbed his leg after a run early in the second half and it didn't take long for him to be ruled out for the remainder of the game. It's been that kind of game for the Steelers thus far as San Francisco is just having their way with Pittsburgh. We've seen the graphic where at one point the 49ers had outgained the Steelers 199-1.