Steelers release inactives vs Raiders, make final call on Diontae Johnson

The Pittsburgh Steelers released their inactives on Saturday night ahead of their Christmas Eve matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders. Pittsburgh fans were eagerly anticipating the gameday status of receiver Diontae Johnson. He has officially been ruled as active for their Saturday night game.

Johnson has been a target vacuum for the Steelers for the past few seasons. This season has been no different, he’s been targeted 123 times, hauling in 77 catches for 745 receiving yards. In 2020, the Steelers peppered Johnson with targets, he racked up 144 targets. He hauled in 88 catches for 923 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. In 2019, he hauled in 59 catches for 680 receiving yards, while bringing in five touchdowns.

The Steelers will be without safety Terrell Edmunds, who didn’t practice at all this entire week. He’s been dealing with a hamstring injury that had him listed as questionable coming into Saturday night’s game. It’s the second game of the season that Edmunds will miss. He was also inactive for the Steelers Week 5 matchup against the Buffalo Bills.

With Edmunds, out, Pittsburgh has elevated safety Elijah Riley to the 53-man roster from the practice squad. Riley previously saw action in the Steelers’ Week 5 (Buffalo Bills) and Week 6 (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) matchups.

Diontae Johnson college stats

Johnson was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He played for the Toledo Rockets in college and hauled in over 2,200 receiving yards during his time there. In 2018, he was named MAC Special Teams Player of the Year. The Florida native was also named first-team All-MAC as a wide receiver and punt returner in 2018, too. The 5-foot-11 receiver scored a total of 28 touchdowns in his college career. A dynamic kick returner, Johnson racked up 1,849 yards and two touchdowns for his entire college career. In terms of all-purpose yardage, he piled up over 4,400 yards in his Toledo career.