
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson is a fantasy football waiver wire pickup to target as a free-agent addition for Week 5 of the 2019 NFL season.
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ANALYSIS: Third-round rookie Diontae Johnson, not second-year receiver James Washington, has emerged as the No. 2 wideout in Pittsburgh behind JuJu Smith-Schuster after four weeks. The 5-foot-10, 183-pounder from Toledo has the speed and quickness to gain separation and beat defenders down the field. That was on display on Monday night against the Bengals when he caught all six of his targets for 77 yards, including a 43-yard TD in which he was left wide open. He's now scored in back-to-back weeks.
Pittsburgh's passing offense is somewhat limited with Mason Rudolph under center instead of Ben Roethlisberger (elbow). The Steelers coaching staff will be hesitant to have Rudolph throwing deep down the field often, but when he does, Johnson could be the beneficiary more often than not. The volume might not be there, but there's no denying Johnson has emerged as a threat in this offense. His arrow is pointing up.
Johnson has a nice matchup with a Ravens team in Week 5 that is allowing the 11th-most fantasy points per game (25.9) to receivers. They'll face the Chargers on the road before going into a Week 7 bye. Following the off week, Johnson will have a mouth-watering matchup at home against the flailing Dolphins and should be started with extreme confidence.
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