First Call: Steelers QB Kenny Pickett promises ‘bounce back year’ for Diontae Johnson; Najee Harris rips RB pay
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Tuesday’s “First Call” features Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris ripping the NFL’s pay structure for players at his position. Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett endorses the use of play-action and promises bigger things from Diontae Johnson.
Plus, rookie tight end Darnell Washington is being tied to a college payment scandal that doesn’t even involve his alma mater.
And Marian Hossa wants to say goodbye to hockey in style.
Shots fired
Steelers 2021 first-round pick Najee Harris and fellow running back Derrick Henry are blasting the NFL for how it is pinching pennies for those that play the position.
In the wake of news that running backs Saquon Barkley (NYG), Josh Jacobs (LV) and Tony Pollard (DAL) all failed to reach long-term extensions with their teams, Henry and Harris took to Twitter to express their outrage over what they deem to be payroll inequity for those in the RB fraternity.
I agree with my running back brothers around the NFL- history will show that you need running backs to win- we set the tone every game and run trough walls for our team and lead in many ways- this notion that we deserve less is a joke. https://t.co/rWJkGIEgmW
— Najee Harris (@ohthatsNajee22) July 17, 2023
Barkley, Pollard and Jacobs will now have to play the 2023 season on their franchise tenders. They won’t exactly be paupers, at $10.091 million for one year’s work.
However, they’ll have no security beyond this year and will likely enter what has been a depressed free agent market even for good players at the position.
The three backs were the only players who received the franchise tag not to have reached a long-term contract. They had until 4 p.m. Monday to get one.
TDs for DJ?
One of the more eye-popping Steelers stats from 2022 is that wide receiver Diontae Johnson failed to catch a touchdown pass the entire season.
Not good. Certainly not after signing a $36.71 million ($27 million guaranteed) contract extension in August 2022.
However, appearing on teammate Cameron Heyward’s “Not Just Football” podcast Monday, quarterback Kenny Pickett said that stat will change in 2023.
“It’s kind of both ways. We have to get him the ball and he has to do his thing,” Pickett said. “We had some bad luck. He had some bad luck where he had one foot in two times. It’s just one of those things. I’m excited for him to have a big year. He’s going to have a bounce back year.”
It wasn’t just a lack of touchdowns for Johnson. While he caught 86 balls for 882 yards, his 10.3 yards per reception were 86th in the NFL. His 235 yards after catch were good for just 46th.
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Pickett on play-action
Also during the podcast, Pickett endorsed the idea of incorporating more play-action in the Steelers offense this season.
“I love it. There’s a give-and-take to it,” Pickett said. “If you have a really good run game, you can trust that the fake is going to do what it needs to do to set up everything else. But if the run game is not too good and those guys don’t step up, that’s where I can see some problems. Coming off the spring and what we did, I’m excited to get to camp.”
That speaks to a concept we discussed during spring practices with the Steelers — the importance of winning big on first down so as to keep the defense guessing in second- and third-down situations. That’s where play-action will be most effective.
As we pointed out then, the notion of the Steelers “opening up the offense” isn’t so much centered around them slinging the ball around all over the field and boosting Pickett’s pass attempts per game. It’s more about taking calculated shots in advantageous down-and-distance situations, perhaps frequently off of play-action passes.
But Pickett has to pay off those opportunities himself. As pointed out at Steelers Depot, the rookie QB completed 65% of his play-action passes (43 of 66), but for just 343 yards. That’s a 5.19 yards-per-attempt average, to go along with no touchdowns and one interception.
Washington’s Benjamins
Steelers rookie tight end Darnell Washington’s name is being linked to the fallout from a report on the University of Tennessee football team.
On Friday, Knox News published a piece naming Washington as an anonymous athlete in an NCAA report detailing recruiting improprieties by the team’s previous coaching staff under Jeremy Pruitt.
The Knox News post cites Washington as a player who received $750 in cash and numerous other impermissible benefits that totaled $1,713 from former Volunteers assistant Brian Niedermeyer in 2019. Niedermeyer had been honored as the National Recruiter of the Year by 247Sports.com and ESPN that season.
He and Pruitt were fired in 2021 after an internal investigation. Washington didn’t even end up going to Tennessee. He went to SEC rival Georgia.
Washington was not quoted in the story.
Marian’s memories
Former Penguin Marian Hossa is hosting a “goodbye game” as a way to remember his Hall of Fame career. It’ll be Aug. 18 in Trencin, Slovakia.
Former Penguins Miroslav Satan and Michael Rozsival will join a star-studded list of NHL players on the ice.
Marián Hossa is having a “Goodbye Game” to be the last game he plays.
It’ll be August 18 in Trenčín.Here’s some of the lineup so far:
N. Lidström
Z. Chara
D. Byfuglien
N. Hjalmarsson
M. Havlat
P. Sharp
M. Gáborík
T. Kopecky
D. Alfredsson
M. Handzuš
M. Šatan
M. Rozsíval
J. Toews pic.twitter.com/StdiElMpOO— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) July 16, 2023
Hossa’s career was truncated because of a chronic allergic skin reaction to his equipment. He last played in the NHL in 2017.
The winger played 1,309 NHL games, scored 525 goals, and totaled 609 assists and 1,134 points. After losing in the Stanley Cup Final with the Pens in 2008, Hossa famously chose the team that beat Pittsburgh, the Detroit Red Wings, in free agency.
The next year, the Pens beat the Red Wings in the ‘09 Final. Hossa then went on to win three Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, ‘13 and ‘15. He was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020. The Blackhawks retired his No. 81 in November.