The Pittsburgh Steelers used a third-round pick on Kaleb Johnson back in 2025. Shortly after coming to Pittsburgh, the rookie was met with high expectations. Even in backfield with Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell, some thought he might seize the starting role during his rookie season.
For many reasons, that didn’t happen. Johnson was shut out of the rotation for much of the season, and seems to be in a similar situation behind Warren and Rico Dowdle this year. Going forward, he may need to prove himself capable in other areas to be considered a roster lock.
“I don’t believe it’s a realistic expectation for second-year RB Kaleb Johnson to win a starting job in a backfield that lists proven NFL veterans Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle ahead of him on the depth chart. Based on watching decades worth of NFL training camps, what backups best do is make themselves valuable on special teams. Being valuable on special teams is a certain path to a roster spot,” Bob Labriola wrote Thursday in his Asked and Answered post for Steelers.com. “Being a contributor on special teams often buys the time a guy needs to get better at his position and make a case for playing time on offense or defense.”
For the 2026 season at least, Johnson’s roster spot appears to be safe. The Iowa product still has a lot of potential, and he did show it in some instances last year. His overall stats aren’t going to excite anyone, but there were individual carries in which Johnson showed promise.
After his massive kickoff mistake in Week 2, Kaleb Johnson was never going to get that trust back with the old coaching staff. He gets a new beginning with Mike McCarthy in town. But the latter has brought in someone he already trusts in Rico Dowdle. Johnson is really going to have to prove himself to have any consistent role.
If that doesn’t happen, special teams become paramount. He’s a recent third-round pick, but two straight seasons with essentially no offensive role would be tough to stomach. If that ends up being the case and Johnson hasn’t found a spot on special teams, things might look bleak for him.
Johnson doesn’t have much special teams experience. However, that doesn’t mean it’s an area where he can’t develop. His draft classmate, Jack Sawyer, had no special teams experience coming out of college. Yet, Sawyer made a major impact on special teams last year. The Steelers do have some special teams aces on the roster already. But that should be an area in which Johnson is looking to grow.
Things aren’t necessarily over for Kaleb Johnson if he doesn’t step up this year. Pittsburgh still may give Roman Wilson a large role after he, another recent third-round pick, had a quiet first two seasons. But with each year a player fails to realize his potential, it gets easier for a coaching staff to move on from him. One way to stick around on a roster, as Labriola notes, comes on special teams.
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