Steelers Now
A running back of the Miami Dolphins was surprised it wasn’t the Pittsburgh Steelers who drafted him.
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected running back Kaleb Johnson with their third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. However, there was another running back in the same draft that thought he was going to be heading to Pittsburgh.
Miami Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon II recently revealed that he believed the Steelers were going to draft him.
“I would say it was out of the Dolphins and the Steelers,” Gordon said on Terron Armstead’s YouTube channel. “Because those were my last two 30 visits I had. It happened to be that I had just [gotten] to Pittsburgh and Miami contacted my agent and they were like, ‘Let’s bring him out for 30 visit.’”
Gordon ended up being selected in the sixth round by the Dolphins, but the Steelers did show a lot of interest in him, including a formal meeting with him at the NFL Scouting Combine in addition to his top-30 visit.
In fact, the 22-year-old might be wearing the black and gold right now if it weren’t for the Steelers’ selection of Johnson — a pick that they may have already come to regret.
Johnson was expected to play a significant role in Pittsburgh’s backfield following the departure of Najee Harris. But Johnson struggled to consistently establish himself during his rookie season, finishing the year with just 69 yards on 28 carries (2.5 yards per carry).
Meanwhile, Gordon ran for 199 yards and three touchdowns behind the Dolphins lead back De’Von Achane. Of course, those are much better numbers, but Gordon was selected a whole three rounds later.
Only time will tell who will turn out to be the better pick, but Gordon certainly has the early lead on Johnson, and maybe even has Steelers fans wondering what could have been.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Gordon played college football at Oklahoma State, where he rushed for 2,920 yards and 36 touchdowns from 2022-24.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Dolphins RB Thought Steelers Were Going to Draft Him
