Helter Skelter » The Pittsburgh Steelers expect third-round picks

Diontae Johnson and Justin Layne to get their hands on the ball. That’s where the similarities in their job descriptions end.The Steelers began the process of reloading following the high-profile departure of star wide receiver Antonio Brown by taking Johnson with the 66th overall selection in the NFL draft on Friday night then took aim at a secondary in serious need of a ballhawk or two by grabbing Layne with the 83rd pick.Johnson understands the parallels he shares with Brown. Both are 5-foot-10. Both are around 180 pounds. Both played collegiately in the Mid-American Conference. Both posted 40-yard dash times that didn’t exactly dazzle pro scouts.Yet Johnson — selected with a pick the Steelers acquired when they sent Brown to Oakland in March — knows that’s where the parallels end. Brown is a great player. The three-year letterman at Toledo is eager to write his own story.“At the end of the day Kyler Murray Jersey , I can only be me,” Johnson said. “Do what I do best.”Namely, attack defenses in a way that renders his lack of breakaway speed — at least according to the stopwatch — meaningless. The player who ran a so-so 4.53-second, 40-yard dash won over the Steelers’ coaching staff with his ability to win one-on-one battles at the line of scrimmage.Head coach Mike Tomlin noticed Johnson first then sent wide receivers coach Darry Drake to do some digging. What Drake found turned him into Johnson’s biggest advocate in the team’s draft war room.“He’s a tremendously gifted young man,” Drake said. “The most natural catcher that I’ve seen in a while. … He doesn’t have great timed speed but he plays the game fast. He’s really, really good against the press and this is a press league. DBs walk up to your face and try to fingerprint you. He gets off bumps, gets in and out of his breaks as well as anybody I’ve seen in a long time.”Johnson caught 43 passes for 663 yards and seven touchdowns for the Rockets as a redshirt junior last season and was named the MAC’s Special Teams Player of the Year after returning a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns. He’ll likely get a chance at special teams too http://www.arizonacardinalsteamonline.com/byron-murphy-jersey , where Brown first distinguished himself after being taken in the sixth round out of Central Michigan in 2010 before developing into one of the top receivers in the league.Brown’s record-setting run in Pittsburgh ended with an ugly divorce in the offseason, with the Steelers sending him to the Raiders. They used one of the picks they acquired from Oakland to grab a player that joins a room that will have a decidedly different feel with the prolific but also high-maintenance Brown out west.This is the third straight season the Steelers have taken a wide receiver in the top three rounds of the draft. They selected JuJu Smith-Schuster in the second round in 2017 and James Washington in the second round last year. Pittsburgh signed former Jacksonville Jaguar Donte Moncrief to a two-year deal in March and also have Ryan Switzer and Eli Rogers in the mix.Drake likes Johnson’s versatility and expects the Steelers will move him around instead of just sticking him in the slot. Drake also isn’t worried about Johnson’s 40-time. The coach who counts Larry Fitzgerald among his former pupils doesn’t believe the stopwatch tells the whole story.“We want that guy, that blazer but normally with that package of that dynamic speed, very seldom do you get the total package,” Drake said. “This guy has the ability to be a total package guy.”Pittsburgh is hoping to one day say the same about Layne, who arrived at Michigan State as a wide receiver before moving to cornerback during his freshman season to help address a spate of injuries at the position. At 6-2 and 192 pounds he has the size to be a potential difference maker on the outside for a secondary that picked off just five passes in 2018.“He’s competitive, he’s not afraid to throw it up in there Andy Isabella Jersey ,” Steelers defensive backs coach Teryl Austin said. “He’s got a lot of good things to work with.”Even if Layne didn’t always get a chance to show it. He picked off just three passes during his career with the Spartans, though his 15 pass breakups in 2018 ranked among the top 10 in the Football Bowl Subdivision.Layne called the move from offense to defense “nothing major.” Last he checked, the game is still the game.“I’ve been playing both ways my whole life,” said Layne, who went to Benedictine High School in Cleveland, the alma mater of late Hall of Fame Steelers coach Chuck Noll. “I’m a football player today. I expected to go in the second round but it’s all good. They’re going to feel me.” INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Luck was at his best when it mattered most for the Indianapolis Colts.Including some fancy footwork at a big moment.After throwing three TD passes, Luck calmly stepped through Miami’s pass rush and found Chester Rogers for a 34-yard gain that helped set up Adam Vinatieri’s 32-yard field goal as time expired in the Colts’ improbable 27-24 victory over the Dolphins on Sunday.“There’s a moment there where you’re thinking ‘Don’t go down Clelin Ferrell Jersey , stay up, give our guys a chance,'” Luck said. “I’m glad it worked out.”For most of Indianapolis’ fifth straight win, Luck & Co. struggled.He was picked off twice in a 17-second span at the end of the first half. The Colts also lost a fumble. They had a punt partially blocked and Vinatieri came up well short on a makeable field goal — though it appeared the Dolphins (5-6) might have deflected the kick.Then, with the Colts trailing 24-14 early in the fourth, Luck found a way to rally his teammates.He overcame two offensive penalties to set up Vinatieri’s 46-yard field goal with 8:26 left. He fired a perfect 12-yard strike to Eric Ebron, tying it at 24 with 4:25 remaining. And after the Colts’ defense forced a second straight three-and-out Josh Oliver Jersey , Luck took over on his own 42 and kept his balance just long enough on third-and-9 to connect with Rogers.“I didn’t think that,” coach Frank Reich said when asked if he thought Luck might fall down. “I saw him stepping up and I’m so accustomed to him finding a way to make a play. I wasn’t anticipating him finding someone for a 30- or 40-yard gain, but what a play.”Four plays later, Vinatieri trotted onto the field and made the 28th game-winning kick of his career.The resurgent Luck finished 30 of 37 for 343 yards. He has thrown at least three TD passes in eight consecutive games, tying Peyton Manning for the second-longest streak in NFL history.Luck also had his first career reception , a 4-yard catch for a fourth-down conversion that eventually led to a 1-yard TD pass to Jack Doyle late in the first half.It’s the longest win streak for Indianapolis (6-5) since it also won five in a row in the first half of the 2014 season.The Dolphins, meanwhile http://www.jacksonvillejaguarsteamonline.com/quincy-williams-ii-jersey , have lost 10 of their last 11 road games — perhaps none more frustrating than this game.Ryan Tannehill returned after missing five games with a shoulder injury and played well from the start.His 33-yard TD pass to Kenyan Drake on the opening possession ended the team’s nine-quarter streak without a touchdown and his 74-yard TD pass to Leonte Carroo tied it at 14 late in the first half. Jason Sanders kicked a 29-yard field goal early in the third quarter and Drake’s nifty 14-yard run with 13:36 remaining gave the Dolphins a 24-14 lead.With Luck working his magic, it didn’t last. He led the Colts on three scoring drives in the final 8 1/2 minutes.“It hurts,” Tannehill said. “We were in a good position to win and to not finish it hurts.”INJURY REPORTDolphins: Receiver Danny Amendola (right knee) and center Travis Swanson (ankle) both left in the first quarter.Colts: Linebacker Darius Leonard injured his knee on the first play of the game but returned on the next defensive series. Running back Marlon Mack entered the concussion protocol in the fourth quarter.STAT PACKDolphins: Frank Gore ran 14 times for 67 yards against his former team. … Drake caught five passes for 64 yards and the TD. … Xavien Howard picked off Luck twice. … The Dolphins squandered their last chance when Howard was called for a personal foul following the Colts’ last touchdown and Senorise Perry drew a holding call on the ensuing return to pin Miami at its own 6-yard line.Colts: Luck’s streak of consecutive dropbacks without a sack ended at 239. … Ebron has 11 TDs this season — matching his career total coming into this season. … T.Y. Hilton had seven catches for 125 yards. … Mack ran 15 times for 85 yards.UP NEXTDolphins: Host Buffalo in a division matchup next Sunday.Colts: Visit Jacksonville next Sunday, seeking a series sweep of last year’s AFC runner-up.