It’s been a whirlwind of a season for former Pro Bowl wide receiver Diontae Johnson. After two trades, hot-and-cold production, and a subsequent release, the 28-year-old now finds himself on his fourth team of the calendar year.
Johnson is plenty talented and has the NFL track record to back it up. Now, the Houston Texans will look to unlock the wideout’s skills after claiming him from waivers on Monday afternoon.
How does Johnson fit into the Texans offense, and will he be fantasy-relevant in his new home?
A tumultuous campaign
The 28-year-old is an enigma of sorts. After spending five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he was traded away to the Carolina Panthers back in March. The move was driven by two factors — he was entering the final year of his contract as an impending free agent, and fellow Steeler wideout George Pickens was emerging as a young star. With Johnson expected to serve as Carolina’s primary option in the receiving game, individual expectations were high.
Once September rolled around, Johnson struggled to integrate into the Panthers offense over the first couple of games. However, he hit his stride in Week 3 and posted 24 catches for 306 yards and three scores over a four-game span. The hot stretch was impressive, but it appeared Johnson wanted another change of scenery, while the Panthers wanted to ensure they received compensation if the soon-to-be free agent wasn’t going to stay in Carolina. In a move Panthers GM Dan Morgan described as “best for both sides,” Johnson was traded again near the deadline, this time to the Baltimore Ravens alongside a sixth-round pick in exchange for a 2025 fifth-rounder.
It seemed Johnson would chase a Super Bowl with the contending Ravens, but his role didn’t come to fruition as anticipated. In fact, he spent most of his time on the sidelines — the highest snap percentage Johnson saw in six contests with the Ravens was just 30%, and he only caught one pass for six yards. After allegedly refusing to sub into the game in Week 13, he was later excused from team activities and waived last Friday.
As of Monday afternoon, the Houston Texans successfully claimed Johnson off the NFL waiver wire. It’s a low-risk, high-reward move for a team in dire need for warm bodies at the wide receiver position after Tank Dell sustained a gruesome knee injury during Week 16, effectively ending his season.
How does he fit in Houston?
At a surface level, Johnson’s fit with his new team may be a relatively seamless one, and he could even be in line to play a big role.
The Texans may not be Super Bowl favorites, but they’ve still locked in a postseason berth. The addition of their new wideout could be crucial over the most important stretch of their season, especially with how shorthanded Houston is at wide receiver. Nico Collins remains the alpha X in the receiver room, and undoubtedly the primary target. Between the Dell injury and a previous season-ender for Stefon Diggs, the Texans’ remaining receiver rotation is composed of young wideouts John Metchie III and Xavier Hutchinson, plus veteran Robert Woods. None of those guys have tallied greater than 182 receiving yards or one touchdown this season.
So, Johnson’s introduction could introduce a surge of juice into a currently-depleted receiver corps. He has primarily lined up outside throughout his six-year career, but he’s perfectly capable of taking snaps from the slot, as well. In fact, his location splits are actually eerily similar to Dell’s — Johnson has lined up out wide for 81% of his snaps this season compared to 19% in the slot, while Dell played 75% outside and 20% from the slot.
With that in mind, Johnson should slide in for significant snaps sooner rather than later. With the ability to fill both the Y slot role or the Z flanker role for the Texans, he could be a valuable, experienced veteran for a team in desperate need of consistent play from its receivers. Dell ranks second on the team with 81 targets this season, so if Johnson gets comfortable with the playbook quickly and takes Dell’s role, quarterback CJ Stroud could look his way early and often over the coming weeks.
Will Johnson put up numbers?
It’s a bit difficult to predict exactly how much work Johnson will see in the immediate future. For the purposes of Week 17, it’s quite unlikely he plays significant snaps since the Texans are on short rest and take the field during Wednesday’s Christmas Day slate. There’s simply not enough time for him to get integrated with a new offense.
However, things get interesting for Week 18 and beyond. He might see increased opportunities in the final game of the regular season, especially if playoff seeding is still on the line for Houston in the AFC. He probably won’t have a massive outing, but if he’s on the field, he very well may out-produce the Texans’ trio of depth options just on the basis of talent alone. Houston is a much better situation than Carolina was, and once he gets a grasp of the playbook, Johnson could be an important part of the team for Wild Card Weekend and a potential playoff run.
It’s likely Johnson is a depth add for now, but with free agency looming, this could effectively be an extended tryout of sorts for the wideout. Stefon Diggs will be coming off a torn ACL at the age of 32 next season, and the Texans voided the remainder of his contract when they acquired him. Thus, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason. It’s just speculation, but if Houston likes what they see from Johnson in the coming weeks, perhaps they could consider bringing him in long-term to replace Diggs.
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