Diontae Johnson’s career-best performance is when Dave Canales’ offense comes to fruition.

Dave Channels He gave it as a gift in July. Anyone who watched Canales’ training camp press conference closely on July 27 would have known exactly what the rookie head coach wants to do when his offense gets the football when he walks into Allegiant Stadium on Sunday. “As we build our offense, we really try to highlight someone,” Canales said this summer. “And where is Diontae Johnson for us right now?”

In Sunday’s surprise win over the Las Vegas Raiders, the answer to the question “Where is Diontae Johnson?” was “Everywhere.”

Johnson was pulled in Eight catches for 122 yards and his first touchdown as a Carolina Panther. The 122 yards are a career-high for the 28-year-old wide receiver whose best football is still ahead of him. Resurgent quarterback Andy Dalton targeted Johnson 14 times on 37 pass attempts, posting a 37.8% target share that has fantasy managers drooling.

Johnson’s performance is a combination of Canales’ vision and offensive execution. The Panthers struggled to move the ball with Bryce Young under center, and the introduction of Andy Dalton as the starting point guard allowed Canales’ system to flourish for the first time as a head coach. Johnson was the primary beneficiary of Canales’ vision coming to fruition for the first time in 2024.

Will Diontae Johnson produce numbers like this every week with Canales at the helm? Never. He’ll need to be Jerry Rice or Antonio Brown to keep up that pace. But for Panthers fans waiting for an alpha receiver to emerge in the post-DJ Moore era, knowing that this kind of performance from the Carolina receiver is even better possible It’s a heartwarming thought. General manager Dan Morgan knew the Panthers were in dire need of a star wide receiver to take their offense to the next level, and the deal with the Steelers to bring Johnson to Carolina filled that void on offense.

Johnson will face tougher matchups in the coming weeks. Lou Anaroumo and the top corner duo of Cam Taylor-Britt and Dax Hill will descend on Bank of America Stadium next week with one goal in mind: to cut off the head of the Panthers’ offensive snake, Diontae Johnson. While defenses know what’s coming, it’s up to Canales to find a way for Johnson to break free in the coming weeks. He’s done it before with alpha wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in Tampa, and he promises to do it with Johnson in Charlotte.

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