Ravens trade deadline splash only looks more like a complete waste

The Baltimore Ravens made a couple of trades at the trade deadline in an effort to make an already great team that much better. The biggest one of the two deals made by Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta saw Baltimore acquire a familiar face - Diontae Johnson - to bolster a slightly subpar wide receiver room.

Zay Flowers is the team's clear WR1, but the rest of the wide receiver room, consisting of players like Rashod Bateman and Nelson Agholor, left a lot to be desired. Sure, the Ravens rely on the run a lot, but they could still use more talent in their passing attack. That's where Johnson, a very capable WR2, came in.

While the deal made a lot of sense on paper, Johnson entered Baltimore's Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Chargers with just one reception and four targets in three appearances with the Ravens. Once again, he was a no-show against the Chargers.

Diontae Johnson trade continues to look like a major bust for the Ravens

Johnson was targeted just once and could not record a single reception in Monday's game. On his lone target, he tripped when a Chargers defender inadvertently stepped on his feet, thus forcing an incompletion. Other than that, he was hardly noticeable on the field.

The Ravens won the game rather comfortably and absolutely dominated on the ground. Derrick Henry ran for 140 yards, and Justice Hill chipped in another 55. The Chargers' inability to contain Baltimore's backs on the ground gave Lamar Jackson very little reason to throw the football. He threw for just 177 yards in the win.

While Johnson's lack of involvement doesn't matter too much at the end of the day in games Baltimore wins, looking back at their Week 11 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers is where that lack of involvement hurts. The Ravens scored just 16 points and Jackson failed to complete 50 percent of his 33 passing attempts. Johnson was targeted twice and didn't secure a reception. Notably, he only played in 18 percent of the team's offensive snaps. He had played in 30 percent of the offensive snaps or fewer in each of the three games he appeared in with the Ravens prior to Monday's contest.

Johnson's lack of involvement early on made sense as he was adjusting to a new offense, but it's really hard to comprehend why the team traded for him only for him to rarely see the field, especially when the wide receiver room is mostly devoid of talent.

Only five more regular season games remain on Baltimore's schedule. The clock is ticking for the Ravens to get something out of Johnson before the playoffs. If he doesn't get more involved down the stretch, it's hard to envision him doing much in the playoffs. If he's invisible with their season on the line, the trade would then be entirely pointless.