Diontae

Johnson

In the revenge game that was not to be, Johnson ran just six routes in his first game since head coach John Harbaugh said the team plans to “ramp up” his usage. On the bright side, Johnson saw two targets and was just missed on a long pass from Lamar Jackson, which would have had a chance to result in a score. Given his talent, Johnson is a tough player to drop in fantasy; but the usage just isn’t there at this time. We’ll see if things change in Week 12 against the Chargers, but he can’t be started in any capacity.

Johnson has appeared in two games for the Ravens since being acquired by them before the trade deadline. Johnson has played on just 22 offensive snaps with the Ravens and has run nine routes. He was targeted twice in Week 10’s win over the Bengals, but the Ravens can’t continue to play him behind guys like Nelson Agholor and Tylan Wallace. We’d expect Johnson to see a bit more action in Week 11 when the Ravens take on the Steelers, but he’ll be hard to trust in fantasy until we see some consistency in his usage.

Johnson is now “up to” ... one catch for six yards through two games as a Raven. That does not include falling down on a target. Pro Football Focus’ Nathan Jahnke charted Johnson as playing only five total snaps. This must be some difficult system to break into. We would like to say better days are ahead in this explosive passing attack, but it feels like wishcasting when you have Lamar Jackson hitting role players Tylan Wallace and Nelson Agholor for scores this evening. Johnson will be hard pressed to crack the top 48 in Week 11 against the Steelers.

CBS Sports’ Tracy Wolfson reported before the game that John Harbaugh expected Johnson to see between 10 and 15 snaps. That was right on the money as the newly-acquired wideout logged 13 snaps. He will be more involved in Week 10 against the Bengals, but that game takes place on Thursday, giving Baltimore a shorter time to scheme up looks for Johnson. With four 100-yard games in his past five appearances, Zay Flowers has also cemented himself as the team’s clear No. 1 receiver. Johnson will be stuck in the WR4/5 ranks until we see his role grow.

Johnson was traded to the Ravens on Tuesday afternoon and is still learning the ropes. Amari Cooper and DeAndre Hopkins, both of whom were acquired by contending teams earlier this year, played 19 and 23 snaps in their first games post-trade. Cooper went for 66 yards and a touchdown while Hopkins was held to 29 scoreless yards. Johnson should quickly start to command targets in the Ravens offense, but his first game with the team is a bad spot for fantasy managers to make that bet. He is relegated to the WR4/5 ranks for his Baltimore debut.

After nursing ribs, ankle and hamstring injuries with the Panthers in recent weeks, Johnson was miraculously absent from the Ravens’ Week 9 injury report. Johnson’s incoming workload is difficult to project but it is likely Harbaugh used “contribute” intentionally. At least in the short-term, fantasy managers should expect Johnson to operate in a contributing, No. 3 WR role rather than as the passing game’s alpha.

Sure didn’t seem like a huge cost for the Ravens, though it does shake up their receiver room and make it hard to trust for fantasy purposes. Zay Flowers is hurt the most by the acquisition, as he was (by target volume) the uncontested No. 1 wideout. He likely slides down to the WR3/FLEX borderline due to the uncertainty. Rashod Bateman becomes a touchdown-or-bust proposition. For Carolina, Xavier Legette pushes into the FLEX conversation on target volume despite being on a bad passing offense. Jalen Coker also is rosterable in deeper leagues. It’s worth holding onto Diontae Johnson for the moment, but he may be droppable in most leagues if he’s not a big part of the Ravens offense after a week or two.

Johnson is in the final year of his deal and the Panthers have reportedly not been happy with his missed practices and on-field play. Of course, the Panthers were the ones who chose not to extend Johnson when they acquired him last offseason. Person lists the Buccaneers, 49ers, Commanders, Chargers, and Texans (if Stefon Diggs is knocked out) as potential landing spots for Johnson. It sure seems like he’s the big name most likely to move before the deadline.

The exact quote from Schefter was, “In my mind, Diontae Johnson and [Browns LB] Za’Darius Smith are gonna be traded before the deadline.” The NFL trade deadline has been pushed back to November 5th, giving teams an extra week to decide the directions they want to go in, but Johnson (ribs) did not play in the Panthers’ Week 8 loss and could be held out again in Week 9, even if he is healthy enough to play. There are several teams who could benefit from acquiring Johnson, who has caught 30 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns this season in seven games. Is ability to command targets was on full display once Andy Dalton took over under center for the Panthers, and with Johnson unlikely to re-up with the team this offseason, a trade would make the most sense for both sides.

As expected, Johnson and Dalton will miss the game against the Broncos with their injuries. The Panthers do get starting defensive end A’Shawn Robinson, outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney and Josey Jewell back to help the Carolina defense for the Week 8 tilt.