When the Pittsburgh Steelers traded WR Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers for CB Donte Jackson, a lot of people weren’t happy. It wasn’t like Johnson was a universally beloved figure in Pittsburgh. It’s simply that the Steelers weakened their wide receiver room and haven’t done a whole lot to fix that. It’s part of why Sporting News ranked the trade as the Steelers’ worst move this offseason.
Jackson will face a lot of scrutiny as a cornerback and as the return in a trade that took away one of the team’s best receivers. Will it weigh on him and affect his performance?
“At this point in my career, I really just worry about just getting better every day,” Jackson said when talking with Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Tim Benz on Thursday’s episode of Breakfast With Benz. “People going to have good stuff to say, people going to have bad stuff to say. I really don’t try to live up to no hype or just make that my main focus. I feel like if I come out every day and just focus on getting better every single day like I’ve been doing, then people going to see what I bring to the table. And that’s what I expect to do.”
That’s a healthy viewpoint for any player regardless of whether they’re a rookie, recently traded, or entering their 10th season. Jackson couldn’t control what the Steelers sent to Carolina. He can only control what he does every single day.
Jackson cannot be a good player for the Steelers if he’s focused on living up to the trade. That would affect his work in the classroom and on the field. He needs to focus on improving each and every rep.
And fans need to remember that Jackson is not responsible for the trade. If Johnson goes to Carolina and has a 1,000-yard season, that’s not Jackson’s fault. Jackson can only control how he prepares and how he performs.
We also need to remember that trying to compare a wide receiver versus cornerback is a tough thing to do. Great wide receivers produce yards and touchdowns. Great cornerbacks produce turnovers but also simply negate wide receiver production. A good corner can have a very quiet statistical season while also doing a great job. So box-score watching isn’t necessarily a viable way of evaluating the success or failure of the trade.
It’s up to general manager Omar Khan to figure out if there’s a wide receiver on the market who can replace Johnson. And it’s up to wide receiver coach Zach Azzanni to coach the receivers on the roster to help the offense produce.
It’s up to Jackson to be the best cornerback he possibly can and help the defense play well. Anything beyond that is out of his purview. Based on his comments, it’s out of his mind, too.
