Diontae Johnson played lights out in his first NFL game Saturday night against Kansas City. Sure, it was only a preseason game, but Johnson caught four passes for 46 yards and had a 24-yard touchdown. He also had another touchdown catch called back after a pass interference penalty went against him.

But when will the Steelers know if Johnson will be able to contribute when the games count for real? That’s the question everyone wants to know with the season opener against New England a little more than two weeks from now.

Will Johnson be able to burst onto the scene like JuJu Smith-Schuster did in 2017? Will he struggle as many of his predecessors did in their first NFL seasons? Or will he fall somewhere in between?

The range of performances in Steelers rookie receivers over the years is wide. Smith-Schuster had the best rookie season of any receiver during the Mike Tomlin era when he caught 58 passes for 917 yards. Mike Wallace (39 for 756 in 2009) and Martavis Bryant (26 for 549 in 2014) weren’t far behind.

But then there are players such as Antonio Brown. He turned out to be the greatest receiver of his generation, but he fell behind early and landed behind another rookie on the depth chart in 2010.

Emmanuel Sanders had 28 catches for 376 yards, and Brown just 16 for 167 yards.

“If I remember, we had AB, he was punt and kick returner,” offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said following Wednesday’s practice at the Steelers’ facility on the South Side. “We didn’t use him until Week 13 or whatever, and he helped put us in the Super Bowl.”

Who can forget Brown’s one-handed grab that he pinned to his helmet in the AFC divisional round game against the Ravens? The big play set up the winning score. Then in the AFC championship game victory a week later against the Jets, it was Brown who caught a third-down pass that helped run out the clock at the end of that game.

“Emmanuel Sanders, we played him before Antonio,” Fichtner said. “They weren’t on the same time frame. He was a little more advanced in the system and in being able to do the right things. You have to do the right thing first.”



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