Diontae Johnson (WR, PIT) - Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: Diontae Johnson has been up and down all season long, but he’s showed a ceiling as high as low his floor has been. Sure, he has had four games of under-five fantasy points in 2019, but he also has another four with double-digit scores reaching up to 19 points in two of them. Perhaps we shouldn’t count his last game as a full image of Johnson’s abilities, as he had to left it concussed. In the other three games since the Steelers bye week in Week 7, though, Johnson has racked up 151 yards on 10 receptions, scored a touchdown, and amassed 31.3 fantasy points for an average of 10.4.

Johnson has been Pittsburgh no. 2 receiver in snaps, which talks about how prominent his role is in the Steelers offense. Even with that, he’s flying under the radar in most fantasy leagues this season while he should be considered more than a reasonable weekly flex play. So far this year Johnson has three touchdowns on 32 receptions and 380 yards for an average of 11.9 yards per target. He has been targeted 50 times in his 10 games for an exact average of five per, and only has dropped the ball three times.

While Johnson is a risky addition this week due to his concussion, the fact that he suffered it on Thursday and Pittsburgh doesn’t play until Sunday could help him clear the concussion protocol and be back on the field for Week 12’s game against the Bengals. That is a great matchup against a hapless team, so even if you don’t add Johnson first-thing in the morning today you should keep an eye of him as a potential target to get in your roster and put on a flex spot prior to his game if he remains available in waivers come game time and we know more about his status.