Second-year Steelers RB Kaleb Johnson may be down after last season, but he refuses to be out for the count. Suffice it to say his rookie year did not go as anybody envisioned, but he’s ready for a new chapter. He knows he has his work cut out for him, and a new depth chart to climb. But he’s ready to put in the work, and he’s showing that to his new coaches.
“With adversity, just overcoming stuff like that early on and really be able to bounce back and really just keep my head straight and keep forward”, Kaleb Johnson told Chris Adamski of his tumultuous rookie season. “Because stuff like that happens. You’ve just got to take it on the chin and keep going”.
“I just gotta take it on the chin and keep going.”
—Kaleb Johnson on the adversity of his rough rookie season in 2025 for the Steelers pic.twitter.com/4SrPOfGSSt
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) June 2, 2026
The stuff to wish Johnson refers is the botched kickoff return early in his rookie season. Rather than fielding the ball, he allowed it to bounce, only to witness the kicking team return it for a touchdown. A mental lapse, presumably, precluded him from understanding his responsibilities in that instance.
Former Steelers HC Mike Tomlin put Kaleb Johnson on kick return duty as a way to get him playing time. A rookie third-round pick, he still had to climb the depth chart behind Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell. While many thought he would do just that, he didn’t hit the ground running as many hoped.
Tomlin hoped kick return duties would help ease Johnson into things while keeping him in the fold. Perhaps it would have, were it not for that backbreaking gaffe. But the past now is in the past, and he is looking forward to what he can do in the future.
“It’s been great”, Kaleb Johnson said of how he has worked with new HC Mike McCarthy thus far about his future within the offense and the team. “I’ve just been here every day trying to get better, asking him what can I do to get better and where do you need me to be at”.
The Steelers lost Gainwell in free agency, but signed Rico Dowdle instead. Dowdle played under McCarthy in Dallas, so they have two established backs. Admittedly, it is hard to see Kaleb Johnson getting a ton of work even in favorable circumstances.
Not many teams regularly utilize three running backs, especially when none of them have a defining distinctive trait. Jaylen Warren, Rico Dowdle, and Kaleb Johnson all have many overlapping qualities, though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
And it may be what McCarthy wanted. Back in the spring, he talked about wanting two backs who can be interchangeable. More recently, the Steelers’ RB coach talked about McCarthy’s priority being to always have a fresh back. Kaleb Johnson hopes to be that fresh back on occasion, but he has a lot to prove before that happens.
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