When the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted running back Kaleb Johnson in the third round of the 2025 NFL draft, they likely envisioned him having a bigger role than we’ve seen for the rookie thus far.
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Through four games, Johnson has barely existed. He has only played 15 snaps on offense and has just eight carries, six of which came in Week 4 when fellow back Jaylen Warren was sidelined due to injury.
Johnson did have a role as a kick returner over the first two games, but he was stripped of that after a massive blunder against the Seattle Seahawks.
With Warren likely to return in Week 6, it’s back to oblivion for Johnson.
However, on Tuesday, head coach Mike Tomlin did offer some hope for the rookie seeing more work down the road.
“I think that he’s gonna continue to get better with opportunity. You know, he doesn’t have control over when those opportunities occur and so when he gets them, he better make the best of them,” Tomlin said of Johnson. “I love the way that he’s working during the course of the work week from a practice perspective.
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“And so, as I mentioned, we’ve got 13 straight games ahead of us. I’m sure he’s gonna get more opportunities to let his talent show and more importantly, to develop talent and experience,” Tomlin added.
The problem for Johnson seeing more work is he’s still sitting behind both Warren and Kenneth Gainwell, the latter of whom is coming off a monster game and isn’t ceding work to the rookie anytime soon.
Until one of those two get hurt, or the Steelers are in a garbage-time situation, don’t expect to see much of Johnson moving forward.
