Getting to Know Steelers Rookie RB Kaleb Johnson
With the 83rd pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers landed Kaleb Johnson, running back from Iowa. I’m still baffled that Johnson was available to the Steelers as late as he was; I figured he was a lock to be drafted in the back end of the second round. I knew at the end of the 2024 season that the Steelers would likely move on from Najee Harris this offseason, and I mentally sold myself on Kaleb Johnson all the way back in January, so for that to come to fruition was very cool for me.
Kaleb Johnson is another rust belt guy (Derrick Harmon), as he was born and raised in Hamilton, OH, where he attended Hamilton High School. He was a three-star recruit coming out, and had offers from places like Pitt, Michigan State, West Virginia, and more. Eventually, he would commit to the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2021. Johnson showed big-play-ability in 2022 and 2023, but he really gained national popularity in 2024 when he rushed for over 1500 yards, and set the Iowa Hawkeyes’ single-season rushing touchdown record with 21. He also earned First-Team All-Big Ten, and Big Ten RB of the Year honors.
Kaleb Johnson is the heir-apparent to former Steelers workhorse Najee Harris, who signed a deal with the Los Angeles Chargers earlier this offseason. Regardless of how you felt about Naj’s play on the field, it’s going to be a tall task replacing four straight 1000+ yard rushing seasons. From a durability standpoint alone, you can’t ask for much more from a guy. Still, a career 3.9 yard per carry average leaves a lot to be desired, and a split was probably best for both sides.
Kaleb Johnson finds himself in an extremely favorable situation on a Steelers team that is a year removed from beefing up their offensive line in the draft, and an offense that likes to run a lot of the outside zone concepts that he was running at Iowa. Unless you’ve trauma blocked it out of your memory (I wouldn’t blame you if you did), then I’m sure a lot of yinz will remember the countless instances that Najee Harris was asked to run an outside toss play last year and was fighting for his life before he could reach the line of scrimmage. Some of that had to do with injuries and a lack of continuity along the offensive line, which should improve this season. However, a lot of that had to do with Najee Harris’ skillset not fitting the scheme that Arthur Smith wants to run. In Kaleb Johnson, the Steelers stick to their typical archetype of a big, strong, physical back, but they also get an upgrade in that he has the patience, and the one-cut ability to break big runs, and he comes from a school whose offense runs the same concepts. The play above is a prime example of what I’m saying.
I love this play, too. With the guy coming off the edge unblocked, Johnson has to accelerate to the line quickly, but he’s just patient enough to allow for the sea to part in that cutback lane. From there, he’s able to turn on the jets and tote that thing for 54 yards before he’s run down by a safety. Don’t get me wrong…the offensive line blocked well on this play, but I also want to dispel any notion(s) that Johnson is a product of this offensive line. Do yourself a favor: hit play on the video above, and pause it at right about the 5-and-a-half second mark. If you time it up just right, you should see three Iowa State players running into each other, and Johnson accelerating into open grass. That’s three guys with an opportunity to make a play, but Johnson’s ability to see the hole opening up and his decisiveness to put his foot in the ground and take it is what made this play possible, and something that the Steelers offense hasn’t been getting consistent enough.
This play (above) also goes against the notion that Johnson was a product of his environment at Iowa. This play was absolutely dead about 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage, but Kaleb Johnson is able to break multiple tackles, put his foot in the ground, and take off for 23 yards. How many of those plays did we watch as Steelers fans last year that went for -2, -3, -4 yards? That acceleration allows him to make defenses pay for missed tackles, which is something that Jaylen Warren has given us in spurts, but that we’ve largely been missing on early downs from our backs.
With that being said, one would hope that our offensive line would be better than it was last year as we add last year’s first round pick, Troy Fautanu, back into the fold. His addition to the line allows Broderick Jones to move to his (allegedly) more comfortable spot at LT, along with the strong interior anchored by the young DAWG Zach Frazier, should all result in a much better unit than the injury-riddled revolving door that was the 2024 offensive line. Assuming those things fall into place the way I anticipate they will, I think Kaleb Johnson could make a strong case for himself to win offensive rookie of the year, although I think he’d need top 20 QB play to get it, which I don’t think he will get. Still, when it comes to the run game, the Steelers have seemingly set themselves up nicely for the foreseeable future.
Looking back at the 2021 draft, when the Steelers drafted Najee Harris in the first round, he was coming into a very complicated scenario. There were question marks all over the offensive line, there was a larger-than-life, Hall of Fame quarterback tightroping the line of retirement, and the offensive coordinator was Matt Canada. I understood them drafting Naj at the time, because it felt like they had to do everything they could to win immediately for Big Ben, but it ended up being exactly as disastrous as it sounds like it would be. I think Naj will do awesome in LA, and he fits the culture of that team like a glove, which is great, but also a damn shame, because his perceived replacement, Kaleb Johnson, is coming into an environment that is built from the trenches out. And while they are seemingly waiting for 2026 to push all their chips into the pot for a quarterback, it really feels like a special thing could happen between Kaleb Johnson and Arthur Smith. For the record, Kaleb Johnson is my favorite draft pick of the 2025 draft, and I’m already considering breaking my don’t-buy-RB-jerseys rule.
Follow me on twitter/x: @jay_newm
