I wanted to continue learning and providing data on new Steelers RB Kaleb Johnson. Today’s goal is to look at his volume and success in various run game schemes, comparing that to Pittsburgh, and seeing what that could mean for the Steelers in 2025.
First, let’s look at Johnson’s results at Iowa last season. The first table is a breakdown of run types charted by Sports Info Solutions (SIS), including attempts, yards, yards per attempt (YPA), and touchdowns. I sorted by the most total attempts at each run scheme:
Right away, seeing Johnson’s most common run scheme being outside zone aligns very well with what Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith likes to do. It has been the most common run type in his coaching career, including 2024, his first season with Pittsburgh. Smith discussed calling schemes to match your personnel but still leaned on outside zone the most.
Johnson’s second highest run type was inside zone, which was also the case for Pittsburgh last season. It was also his biggest impact on the scoreboard with six TDs. We also see that pitch was third-most, featuring a whopping 10.1 YPA on 33 carries.
So, Johnson’s top three usages were outside, inside, and pitch with over four yards per carry on each and TDs in each scheme. Ten touchdowns total on the zone schemes is rather encouraging to see, along with the run types he was utilized in matching Pittsburgh’s tendencies.
To add context, here are Pittsburgh’s results from the same 2024 season. I left it sorted by Johnson’s most common run schemes so we can glean similarities and differences:
Here we get specific context to some earlier points, along with a lot of additional information. First, the top three run types could clearly stand to improve. One area that jumps out is no touchdowns last season from Pittsburgh in its most utilized scheme (outside zone).
While the NFL is a different animal, Johnson provided four scores there, one reason why Smith spoke glowingly of him after the Steelers drafted him in the third round. Plus, a 4.3 YPA in outside zone on 94 attempts for Johnson is the most from a quantity perspective, which of course is a quality that was attractive to Pittsburgh.
Johnson ran a variety of other concepts, which is also true for the Steelers. Pittsburgh ran everything that Johnson did in 2024 except triple option give and jet sweep (one carry each). Some schemes Johnson wasn’t utilized in that the Steelers ran were duo, draw, wham, backward pass, FB dive, and end around.
Not concerning in my opinion, with less than 20 attempts on each for Pittsburgh, and most (outside of duo) at six attempts or less. It also doesn’t automatically mean that Johnson is incapable of being successful if given those opportunities.
Rushing touchdowns were lacking overall for the Steelers in 2024. Najee Harris, now with the L.A. Chargers, scored six rushing TDs in 2024 (2 inside zone, 2 pitch, 1 power, 1 sweep) while Jaylen Warren had only one TD (FB dive, 3-yard TD). Warren’s workload was less than half of Harris’ and illustrates the optimism of him being ready for an RB1 workload as a fingers-crossed projection.
Insert Johnson, who had six touchdowns on inside zone alone, and a respectable 21 rushing TDs last year (fourth-most). They came on outside zone (four), inside zone (six), pitch (one), stretch (three), counter (four), lead (one), sweep (one), and triple-option give (1-yard TD on his lone attempt).
The Steelers, hoping to score more points, added a back in Johnson who fits their schemes like a glove as well as the mold they lost in Harris. Johnson also having the explosive run resume that Harris lacks just adds to the excitement of him joining the Steelers. Here’s to hoping it pans out as well as it looks on paper.
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