It’s hard to characterize the rookie campaign for Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kaleb Johnson as anything but a disappointment.
Johnson came into the 2025 season with high expectations as a third-round pick. But he’s barely played, and in the past three contests, Johnson has been inactive despite being healthy.
While speaking to reporters this week, the rookie indirectly admitted to that being a challenge. However, Johnson isn’t giving up on being a contributor to the Steelers offense soon.
“From going from a lot of volume of carriers to none … it’s … different,” said Johnson, via TribLive.com’s Chris Adamski. “I feel like it’s more of a mental game for me right now. So I just treat it as such.
“My time will come, and I’m going to shine when my time comes.”
Johnson has rushed for 69 yards on 28 carries this season. He also has one catch for nine yards.
At Iowa in 2024, Johnson had 262 touches while leading the Big Ten with 1,537 rushing yards.
Rookie Kaleb Johnson Playing ‘Waiting Game’ for Steelers
Johnson was a bell-cow for the Iowa Hawkeyes during his college career. That’s part of what drew the Steelers to Johnson in the 2025 NFL Draft. The franchise needed to replace free agent running back Najee Harris, who averaged 310 touches from 2021-24.
Bell-cows typically get better the more they touch the ball. That isn’t a good thing, though, if they have limited opportunities.
The Steelers mostly used Johnson as a change-of-pace back in October and November. With limited carries this season, he’s averaging 2.5 yards per rush.
With that poor efficiency, Johnson hasn’t earned more carries. Without more carries, Johnson can’t showcase his ability to wear down defenses late in games.
The rookie suggested not being his offense’s primary ball-carrier has been a big adjustment.
“I was always used to being ‘the guy,’ and I was always used to making plays,” Johnson said, via Adamski. “So now it’s like I’m just sitting there and it’s like, ‘I can make plays, too.’ But it’s a waiting game as a rookie, so that’s all I repeat in my head.”
Jaylen Warren came into 2025 with significant doubters, but he has answered the call as the Steelers’ leading rusher. During the regular season, fellow running back Kenneth Gainwell led the offense in catches on his way to winning the team’s MVP award.
With Warren and Gainwell have combined to play 97.58% of the team’s offensive snaps. Johnson has lined up on offense for 4.95% of the team’s snaps this season.
Johnson’s Inability to Play Special Teams
Once it became clear Johnson wasn’t going to be one of Pittsburgh’s top two running backs this season, it was obvious he might not be able to be very productive at all.
That’s because of his inability to play special teams.
The Steelers tried Johnson as a returner in the first two weeks of the season. But during Week 2, the rookie muffed a kickoff that directly led to a Seattle Seahawks touchdown.
Johnson hasn’t played on special teams since then, and that hurts Pittsburgh’s ability to dress him on game days. Playmakers who aren’t starting on offense have to be versatile and fill other roles.
Since Johnson can’t do that and the Steelers have needed to dress extra depth at other positions in recent weeks, the rookie has found himself inactive.
That, though, hasn’t deterred the third-rounder from remaining hopeful that he’ll get his chance to shine in the future.
“I really do believe that,” Johnson said. “Me having this going on this season, (in respect to a) career overall, it’s just a bump in the road, you know? You gotta get over it.”
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