The Pittsburgh Steelers revamped their backfield in 2026 when they added Rico Dowdle, Travis Homer, and Eli Heidenreich to a running back room that already included Jaylen Warren. This is a bad sign for 2025 third-round pick Kaleb Johnson.
The Iowa product is coming off a disappointing rookie season in which he carried the ball 28 times for just 69 yards (2.5 yards per carry).
Sadly, the highlight of Johnson's season was a negative play, as the rookie made a mental mistake on special teams—not jumping on a live football he failed to corral, as the Seahawks recovered the ball for a touchdown.
But the latest data gives Steelers fans even more cause for concern with Johnson in 2026.
The Pittsburgh Steelers don't have enough carries to go around for Johnson to be relevant
After spending time thinking about the Steelers' crowded backfield, I decided to do a little historical research... and my findings won't bode well for Johnson.
Since 2021, the Steelers' RB1 has averaged 246 carries per season. Their RB2 has averaged 101 carries per season. Unfortunately, their RB3 has averaged just 20.83 carries per year. When you break it down further, this is just 1.24 carries per game for the Steelers' third running back over the past six years.
#Steelers running back rushing attempts by role since 2020:
— Tommy Jaggi (@TommyJaggi) July 9, 2026
If historic trends hold true, Kaleb Johnson would be in line for 1-2 carries per game if Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle stay healthy... and he doesn't offer special teams value. pic.twitter.com/EOpKDsSfex
With Warren and Dowdle firmly in position for the top two running back roles—based on production, experience, and contract figures—Johnson's best-case scenario might be earning the RB3 gig.
But even then, his impact may be microscopic.
If historic trends hold true, Johnson is maybe looking at 1-2 carries per game. This isn't a big enough sample to get into any sort of rhythm in the backfield.
To make matters worse, Johnson does not offer special teams value. He was pulled from kick return duties early in his rookie season in 2025, and only logged 11 special teams snaps on the year. If he can't make his mark in this department this summer, he could be out of a job before he ever has a true opportunity to prove himself.
Johnson only has two potential paths to playing time: either he blows the socks off the coaching staff this August and plays so well that the team can't keep him off the field, or he needs Warren or Dowdle to go down with an injury for him to be relevant.
The latter is obviously not good for the team, and if Johnson's value hinges on players in front of him getting injured, how expendable is he?
As fans, we want to give Kaleb Johnson every benefit of the doubt that he can turn things around and have a bounce-back second season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unfortunately, historical trends show that there simply won't be enough carries to go around for the team's third-string running back to make him a relevant football player, barring injuries in 2026.
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