The Pittsburgh Steelers might have struck the biggest gem of the 2025 NFL Draft, and the rest of the NFL world can’t see it coming. While many are focused on Jaylen Warren taking a presumptively larger role in the backfield, it’s third-round pick Kaleb Johnson who is poised to steal the show.
The Steelers’ coaching staff (and anyone else who laid eyes on him) was mightily impressed with Johnson throughout minicamps. With training camp about to get started, anticipation of what Johnson can bring to the exhaustively inefficient offense in recent seasons.
Pittsburgh Steelers rookie Kaleb Johnson outshining expectations before training camp
"Kaleb has an awesome skillset," Mike Tomlin said in a recent episode of The Standard. "He has that unique blend of experience and youth that's very attractive to us."
After two seasons as a secondary option in the Iowa backfield, Johnson exploded for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns while averaging 6.4 yards per carry. The most impressive note coming from those stats is that everyone and their mother knew giving the ball to Johnson was the only viable offense Iowa had last season.
The biggest mark against Johnson was his straight-line speed, which isn’t too different from his predecessor, Najee Harris. Tomlin also said recently that a 4.57 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine didn’t phase their evaluation of Johnson whatsoever.
To amplify Tomlin’s dismissal of that concern, Johnson had 32 explosive plays (20+ yards gained) in his junior season at Iowa. By comparison, Harris had 8 in his final season at Alabama. While there are some similarities between Johnson and Harris, there’s no doubt that Johnson should be an upgrade.
Johnson might have to take fewer touches behind Warren early on, but if he continues to impress through training camp when the pads come on, Tomlin and Arthur Smith may have a hard time keeping him off the field.