Steelers Daily News & Links: Panthers Are Stoked About Diontae Johnson; Mike Tomlin Praises Chuks Okorafor

Chris Ward |

Updated: Mar 30, 2024

Pittsburgh Steelers WR Diontae Johnson — Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 23, 2023. -- Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

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? Panthers head coach Dave Canales is stoked to have Diontae Johnson in Carolina. He’s a player that he’s been watching and studying for a long time.

“The word I like to say is, I want to compete against our roster every year so there isn’t complacency,” Canales said, via Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I want it so there isn’t anyone who can say I’m safe here. No, let’s challenge our roster. The goal for the receiver room was let’s challenge the explosiveness, let’s challenge the one-on-one matchup, and Diontae is a guy I’ve been watching for a long time.”

Canales’ first NFL job was the receivers coach for the Seattle Seahawks. He spent eight seasons in that role before getting his first head coaching job this year. He previously was in Tampa Bay.

“Diontae can release against the best corners in the league and get open and be available for the quarterback,” Canales said. “He really has a dynamic style of play that I thought we were missing. I wanted to look at more ways we could add that explosiveness to our pass game. He was a big piece of it.”

? Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin praised New England Patriots offensive tackle Chuks Okorafor at the NFL owner’s meetings. Okorafor was allegedly benched by Tomlin for complaining about the offense running the same group of run plays in a Week 8 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. After that, he barely saw the field again as Broderick Jones took over at right tackle.

“They’re getting a very versatile, capable guy. A guy that’s starter-capable at both left and right tackle. A guy that’s accountable and professional,” Tomlin said, via Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

? Quarterback Anthony Wright was the last Steelers player to wear No. 1. He donned No. 1 during the 1999 preseason.

Also it's been out there today that Justin Fields will wear No. 5 himself for the Steelers rather than keep his No. 1 from Chicago, Ohio State and Harrison High School. That sound you hear is Anthony Wright popping champagne pic.twitter.com/n6MdNPiHys

— Brian Batko (@BrianBatko) March 28, 2024

? The Steelers win total for 2024 is 7.5, according to BetMGM. The over juice is -165 and the under is +140.

John Breech of CBS Sports thinks the Steelers are the best bet to go over their win total.

“Mike Tomlin has been the Steelers coach since 2007 and in the 17 seasons since then, he has a NEVER had a losing record, so I’m not going to bet against him now. Tomlin managed to get the Steelers to 10 wins last season, which was a minor miracle considering the team’s quarterback situation. Russell Wilson might not be the Russell Wilson of old anymore, but he still feels like an upgrade over anything Pittsburgh had at QB last year,” Breech wrote.

? Steel City Star shared a clip of when Ben Roethlisberger tried the Roethlis-Burger for the first time at Peppi’s.

Ben Roethlisberger trying a Roethlis-Burger for the first time

This shows how messed up my mind is considering the numerous things I added to this video, including a Danish cooking segment. I couldn’t resist. pic.twitter.com/8DbNBSqdKk

— Steel City Star (@steelcitystar) March 30, 2024