Behind the Steel Curtain
When the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Najee Harris 24th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, it was supposed to be a signal of a strong running game for years to come. Although Harris tallied over 1,000 rushing yards in all four seasons with Pittsburgh, his 3.9 career yards per carry and lack of explosive plays led the Steelers to look in another direction after his rookie contract expired.
Enter Kaleb Johnson, taken in the third round of the 2025 Draft out of Iowa, the reigning BIG 10 running back of the year. Johnson was a dynamic playmaker who averaged over five yards per carry throughout his collegiate career.
Despite being a third-round selection, Johnson came into Pittsburgh with sky-high expectations. With Pittsburgh only taking two offensive players in the draft, more eyes were on Johnson than just about anyone entering training camp.
After an underwhelming statistical performance during the Steelers’ first preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars this past weekend, some analysts have become concerned with the early returns of the young running back. ESPN’s Brooke Pryor expressed her concerns with Johnson and his total body of work to this point on 102.5 WDVE.
“It kind of feels like we’re watching Najee Harris right now, and Kaleb Johnson was drafted to be better than Najee,” Pryor said. “Not every running back can be as durable as he (Harris) was, but you wanna be durable and explosive, and I haven’t seen that yet from Kaleb Johnson.“
Pryor also compared Johnson’s body of work in camp to that of Jaylen Warren when he joined the team as an undrafted free agent in 2022
“It was very different from a couple years ago when Jaylen was a new guy and he was a UDFA, and really popped at camp, and it felt like wow, we really found something, a diamond in the rough here.”
Pryor and the rest of the media seemed to have lofty expectations for Johnson, which he has not lived up to in their eyes.
“Kaleb is coming in with more expectations, and he didn’t necessarily have the same pop.”
It is important to remember that the majority of training camp is football in shorts. Something important to note from the game against Jacksonville is that Johnson played the majority of his reps with the backup offensive line, and it is impossible to draw any major conclusions from preseason football as a whole.
Warren is more than capable of shouldering the majority of the touches this season, but Johnson will still be very involved in the offense. I also anticipate Kenneth Gainwell to have a viable pass-catching role this season. This backfield will be a committee for this season, but it is entirely too early to have any major concerns with the Steelers’ talented rookie running back.
