The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2025 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June, and next up is the team’s annual training camp, which will get underway in the latter part of July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of that, we will preview the team’s offseason roster, three players at a time. This Steelers roster preview, which includes an outlook for every player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow. This series figures to exceed 90 players as the team can carry 91 players during the offseason due to the allowance of one international player designation.
The next three players we will preview ahead of the Steelers’ 2025 training camp are: Brandon Johnson, Kaleb Johnson, and Quindell Johnson.
WR Brandon Johnson: A Tennessee product by way of Central Florida, the Steelers signed Brandon Johnson to their practice squad last August, acquiring him after being waived by the Denver Broncos, the team who originally signed him as a 2022 UDFA.
In his first two NFL seasons with the Broncos, Johnson played in 20 regular season games with three starts. He recorded 25 receptions for 326 yards and five touchdowns while with Denver on 44 total targets. He played 547 offensive snaps with the Broncos and 15 more on special teams.
With the Steelers in 2024, Johnson saw action in just three games as a practice squad elevation. He played just 19 offensive snaps in those three contests and caught just one pass for 9-yards in that limited action. After the 2024 season ended, the Steelers re-signed him to a Reserve/Future contract.
***Outlook:***While Johnson does have over 550 offensive snaps played in the NFL so far, it’s worth pointing out that he only has 15 special teams snaps on his resume. The Steelers wide receiver depth chart is fairly full at this point, and it could get even fuller should the team add another veteran to that position group throughout the summer. In short, he’s going to need a lot of help when it comes to his chances of making the 53-man roster after the preseason concludes.
Brandon Johnson does have a link to Steelers wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni stemming from his time in college at Tennessee and in the NFL with the Broncos. Even so, that will only help him just a little bit when it comes to him possibly staying in Pittsburgh after the final roster cuts are made later this summer.
In all honesty, Johnson will likely be competing this summer for a chance to be a practice squad player again come the start of the 2025 regular season. He is not a special teams asset, at least not yet, and thus a few injuries might need to happen for him to see any playing again in 2025 if he’s able to make the practice squad.
***RB Kaleb Johnson:***The Steelers selected Kaleb Johnson in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Iowa and now he is poised to be their next running back of the future. At Iowa, Johnson rushed 2779 yards and 30 touchdowns on 508 carries in addition to catching 29 passes for 240 yards. 22 of those career college receptions came during his final 2024 season at Iowa. He played in 35 games during his college career.
Of his 508 college carries, Kaleb Johnson registered 32 runs of 20 yards or longer and 65 of 10 yards or longer. He also was used in multiple run schemes and personnel groupings, which included multiple tight ends quite a bit.
In his first two seasons at Iowa, Johnson returned 15 kickoffs for 402 yards.
At the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, Kaleb Johnson measured in at 6010, 224-pounds with 33-inch arms and 9 5/8-inch hands. He ran his 40-yard dash at the combine in 4.57-seconds.
***Outlook:***With Kaleb Johnson now part of the Steelers backfield fold, he more than likely will start his rookie season as a complement to fellow RB Jaylen Warren. The Steelers also signed veteran RB Kenneth Gainwell during the offseason, and he is likely to see some limited usage on offense as well in 2025.
Johnson’s familiarity with inside and outside zone run schemes in college should help him transition easily to the sort of offense that OC Arthur Smith hopes to run more effectively in 2025. The Steelers also expect their youngish offensive line to take a big step forward when it comes to the team’s running game and hopefully that comes to fruition as well.
While Johnson wasn’t used very much in the passing game as a target during his college career, he should be able to be an option in that phase of the game as he enters the NFL. One of the biggest questions concerning Johnson as he enters the NFL is his pass protection ability. While he wasn’t awful in that phase of his game at Iowa, it does need refining and especially if the team wants to put him in those sorts of situations as a rookie.
With his limited kickoff return experience in college, we could see Kaleb Johnson get a chance at winning that role this summer and especially if veteran RB/KR Cordarrelle Patterson winds up not making the initial 53-man roster.
As his rookie season progresses, there is a chance that Johnson might ultimately overtake Warren as the team’s primary touch leader in the backfield. While 1,000 yards rushing for Johnson as a rookie seems like it might be a bit of a stretch, it’s not an unreachable goal overall and especially if Warren misses time due to injury. In closing, Johnson’s rookie season should be exciting to watch and especially if he can deliver an explosive run rate like he did in college. He really seems to fit the Steelers perfectly and could wind up being the team’s top rookie as well.
***S Quindell Johnson:***A former undrafted free agent out of Memphis in 2023, Quindell Johnson was signed by the Steelers in June and after he was waived in May by the San Francisco 49ers. He entered the NFL originally with the Los Angeles Rams and has since been a member of their practice squad as well as the Chicago Bears.
Johnson was active for nine games during his 2023 rookie season as a member of the Bears and he logged 35 total defensive snaps and 106 more on special teams. He registered one interception, one pass defensed, and three total tackles in his limited playing time in Chicago. He mostly lined up at free safety for the Bears.
In college, Johnson played in 50 total games on his way to recording 226 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss, one sack, 10 interceptions, 24 passes defensed, four forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries over a span of five seasons. He mainly played free safety and in the slot throughout his college career in addition to logging a lot of time on special teams.
***Outlook:***With the Steelers trading away veteran S Minkah Fitzpatrick this offseason, it will now be interesting to see how the rest of the team’s safety depth chart shakes out the rest of the summer. Johnson is mainly a free safety and also has plenty of experience on his resume when it comes to special teams. While he does not have a lot of NFL experience to date, at least he has some.
While Johnson isn’t likely going to be in the running to be the Steelers new starting free safety job this summer, he could very well have a chance at being a backup option and especially if he has a strong showing on special teams. It will be interesting to see if the Steelers wind up adding a better free safety candidate with more experience to their roster ahead of Week 1 of the 2025 regular season. If that happens, his chances of making the 53-man roster will decrease even more than they are at the time of this post.
Realistically, Quindell Johnson should at least be in the running to secure a 2025 practice squad spot this summer, and especially if he can stay healthy on the offseason roster. That seems like the likeliest path for him to remain in Pittsburgh after the final round of cuts are made in September.
Previous Posts In This Series:
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Calvin Anderson, Spencer Anderson, Calvin Austin III
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Keeanu Benton, Beanie Bishop Jr., Yahya Black
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Chris Boswell, Nick Broeker, Carson Bruener
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Sebastian Castro, Dylan Cook, Domenique Davis
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Brandin Echols, Daniel Ekuale, DeShon Elliott
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Troy Fautanu, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Zach Frazier
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Pat Freiermuth, Kenneth Gainwell, JJ Galbreath
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Derrick Harmon, Devin Harper, Malik Harrison
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Nick Herbig, Cameron Heyward, Connor Heyward
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Alex Highsmith, Cole Holcomb, Will Howard
90 In 30: Steelers 2025 Training Camp Preview Series — Evan Hull, Max Hurleman, D’Shawn Jamison
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