It was a long night of waiting for Steelers fans. With their second-round pick sent to Seattle as part of the DK Metcalf trade, and no rumored trades of George Pickens bearing fruit, the Steelers didn’t pick until number 83 overall.
Meanwhile, every national pundit continued to hem and haw about whether pick 83 was the floor for QB Shedeur Sanders.
The Steelers instead opted to draft Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson, the first draft profile I wrote for this draft cycle, clear back in February.
Johnson had a breakout 2024 season where he finished seventh in rushing with 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns. Iowa ran a ton of outside zone, so his fit in Arthur Smith’s wide zone scheme should be obvious.
Johnson stands at 6’1 and 224 pounds with 4.57 speed. That 40-time is likely what dropped Johnson to the third round, as he did not do any other testing at the NFL Combine. That speed doesn’t worry me much, though, as Iowa has said their GPS-tracking clocked him reaching speeds over 20 miles per hour in game action this season.
One of Kaleb Johnson's best traits is his contact balance. It's a big reason why he was 5th in the nation in yards after contact (1,060). Of backs with at least 200 carries, KJ trailed only Ashton Jeanty in average yards after contact per attempt (4.42) pic.twitter.com/SWsav4dai8
— Ryan Parish (@RyanParishmedia) February 15, 2025
For a full breakdown of Johnson, click my draft profile posted above.
