Steelers Now
Pittsburgh Steelers rookie running back Kaleb Johnson has his sights set on defeating one of their AFC North rivals.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ first goal every season is to win the AFC North. Luckily, rookie running back Kaleb Johnson has a little extra motivation to defeat one of their AFC North rivals.
Johnson, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, has his sights set on defeating the Bengals this season.
“I’m always looking forward to Week 1, but my main opponent that I want to beat is Cincinnati,” Johnson said on Up & Adams. “That’s where I’m from. So everybody over there in Cincinnati … on the field, they’re the enemies, they’re the opps.”
"My main opponent that I want to beat is Cincinnati"
Kaleb Johnson has Steelers/Bengals circled on his schedule@heykayadams | @PaniniAmerica | #HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/JRVJHKB3Em
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) July 23, 2025
Johnson is going to have a little bit of a wait until he gets to face his hometown team. The Steelers aren’t schedule to play Cincinnati until Week 7.
However, that will give the 21-year-old plenty of time to carve out a role in Pittsburgh’s offense so that he can have a potentially larger role in getting the win against the Bengals.
Jaylen Warren will likely start the season as the Steelers starting running back, but they drafted Johnson for a reason in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft — to be their long-term answer at the position.
Johnson is also coming off a breakout season. In 2024, he rushed for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns while averaging 6.4 yards per carry at Iowa. He also recorded 22 catches for 188 yards and two more scores.
Johnson is a bigger back, standing at 6-foot-1, 224 pounds, but he has also put his speed on display. Last season, he reached 22 miles per hour per GPS measurements on field, which has only been done by a handful of NFL players, including new Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf.
The question seems to be more so when, not if, Johnson will finally take over as Pittsburgh’s lead back, and if it will be in time for the team’s Week 7 trip to Cincinnati.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Rookie RB Has Extra Motivation to Beat AFC North Rival
