The Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back room will look a little different in 2025. The Steelers’ former bell cow, Najee Harris, left for the Los Angeles Chargers this offseason. A new tandem of Jaylen Warren and Kaleb Johnson is set to take over. In an article posted by The Athletic on Monday, Steelers insider Mike DeFabo thinks Johnson could make a name for himself this year.
“The former Iowa ball carrier excelled on wide-zone runs in college, which makes him an ideal scheme fit for [Arthur] Smith’s offense,” DeFabo wrote. “The Steelers’ third-round draft pick will have to earn his carries in a well-rounded backfield that also features Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell. But with a patient running style and a bruising body type, Johnson has an excellent chance as the season plays out to take his first step toward becoming the Steelers’ feature back of the future.”
The first thing DeFabo mentions is Johnson’s fit in the Arthur Smith’s offense, which is hard to ignore. In Smith’s first year calling plays in Pittsburgh, the Steelers unsurprisingly made the run game a staple of the offense. While there was some success with Harris leading that charge, they just weren’t efficient enough running the ball.
With Johnson, that could change. He’s similar to Harris in some ways, especially in his ability to take on a large workload. Throughout Johnson’s three years at Iowa, he ran the ball 508 times. That includes a whopping 240 carries in just 12 games in 2024.
However, Kaleb Johnson does seem to bring more explosiveness to the table. Despite being the only real threat on Iowa’s offense and facing a ton of stacked boxes, Johnson averaged 6.4 yards per carry and 128.1 yards per game last year. A large part of the reason for that is his home-run ability. While Johnson isn’t the most agile runner, he was a threat to score from anywhere on the field in college.
As DeFabo mentions, he’ll have to earn his carries. Fans have wanted Warren to have a bigger opportunity for a while now. Seeming to be in pole position for the starting role, Warren will have that chance.
Still, it’s hard to imagine Johnson not working his way into a large share of the carries. He fits the offense well and has experience with a large workload. He also has some explosiveness, is efficient with his touches and can score from anywhere on the field. Given all of those traits, it’s hard not to be excited about the newest addition to the Steelers’ backfield.
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