For a operating back-needy group just like the Pittsburgh Steelers, ready till the third spherical to pick one won’t have been probably the most supreme strategy. However after RB Kaleb Johnson fell into the group’s laps, there’s no fear within the constructing if the necessity was correctly addressed. Checking the packing containers of a Steelers’ operating again, Mike Tomlin shared what he’s enthusiastic about most.
“Kaleb has an superior skillset,” Tomlin mentioned within the newest episode of the Steelers’ docu-series, The Normal, that aired Saturday night. “He has that distinctive mix of expertise and youth that’s very engaging to us.”
Johnson was one of many youthful gamers within the draft and received’t flip 22 till August 14, two days after the group breaks from coaching camp. Regardless of his youth, he was trusted by the Iowa teaching workers to be the offense’s premier participant in 2024. In his closing season with the Hawkeyes, Johnson led the Massive Ten with 1,537 dashing yards and 21 dashing scores on his approach to reaching All-American standing. He carried the ball 20-plus instances in six of 12 video games and excelled within the fourth quarter, serving to shut out victories en path to an 8-5 season.
Beneath Tomlin, the Steelers have had a theme of huge backs who’re simply scratching the floor of their potential. Kaleb Johnson is simply the newest.
“From our perspective, it’s simply actually good to do enterprise with a man that’s younger and skilled,” Tomlin mentioned. “Among the most vital gamers we’ve had right here throughout my time sort of match that invoice. Le’Veon Bell, for instance, was a third-year junior when he got here out of Michigan State. Rashard Mendenhall was a third-year junior when he got here out Illinois. And so these are simply a few examples of fellows that had been each younger and skilled.
“And so I’m equally as enthusiastic about [KJ] for these exact same causes.”
Like Johnson, Le’Veon Bell broke out in his closing collegiate yr, dashing for nearly 1,800 yards for the Spartans in 2012. Mendenhall adopted an much more related arc to Johnson, a backup his first two years earlier than beginning in 2007, main the Massive Ten in dashing, too.
Even for non-underclassman, manufacturing has been probably the most important element to operating backs Pittsburgh has chosen. From early-round picks like Najee Harris to mid-rounders in Benny Snell, the Steelers imagine those that didn’t produce on Saturdays received’t immediately begin on Sundays.
Although solely in padless practices, Johnson drew reward for his spring efficiency. Whereas he matches the traditional “huge again” mould and has an analogous path as backs earlier than him, his big-play capacity separates him from others. Lighter on his ft and extra explosive than previous picks, Kaleb Johnson will look to supply juice to a Steelers’ dashing assault in want of extra splash. He ought to be given the prospect from the get-go with an early down position that focuses on what he does greatest. Tote the rock.
