While the picking of day 2 sank in the second half of the third round of the NFL 2025 draft, the Steelers found themselves in a place where the value in the running back position fed well with an article on their shopping list. And if possible, check this element by adding one with a style comparable to that which they had lost seemed to be an effective way to use one of the six choices of this lottery.
After the departure of Najee Harris via a free agency without restriction, the Steelers had a hole in their depth table to the ball carrier, and with the 83rd overall choice which was their second in this project, the team settled on Kaleb Johnson of Iowa as guys who can provide part of what they have lost.
What the Steelers lost when Harris left was a great physical back that has always played hard and was ridiculously reliable for the job at the professional level and the way he played it. During his 4 seasons with the Steelers, Harris never missed a regular start to the season on the path of the publication of 4 seasons of 1000 yards (4,312 yards) on 1,097 attempts that mainly intervened between the plated. He played 2,891 offensive shots and hit the ball 1,277 times.
Johnson did similar things in his three seasons in Iowa, a program that has historically proud of fundamentals and physical being. When Johnson left Iowa City, he did it as a 17th player in school history to rush on more than 2,000 yards; The fifth to rush twice for more than more yards. His 12 games of 100 yards placed him sixth in the history of Iowa, and his 30 -hit on the ground placed it fourth. Obviously, the availability combined with the consistency of performance was the strengths of Johnson’s CV. And its 6 points of more than 40 yards spoke to its explosiveness.
“I think whatever your plan … You would like to get these games of pieces,” said offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. “History will tell you that … whatever you watch the game, it opens and generally produces more affected. This is what we are looking for.”
In his first exhibition to the media while the main offseason of the Steelers to meet the need for this position, Johnson sounded as if he understood what we would expect. “They get a physical ball carrier and the one who likes to make a touchdown,” said Johnson. “Just a guy who is ready to work and who is determined and ready to give the Steelers everything.”
The pre-project visits of an NFL team can provide clues to the list areas that the team intends to use their choices in this project to strengthen. The Steelers used 8 of their pre-trafic visits to defensive plasters, and Derrick Harmon of Oregon had already been added to the fold as a choice n ° 1. They used 9 of their pre-trafic visits on the runners, then spent their next choice, which was in the third round, on Johnson.
The second and third cycles of this project (choice n ° 33 at n ° 102) were carried out on Friday, and the overall picking indicated the position of ball carrier as a person who contained good value.
“Directed by Ashton Jeanty de Boise State, a potential superstar at the next level, the runners taking place to enter the NFL could be a large group of all time,” wrote Matt Williamson, a former college and scout of the NFL for the Cleveland Browns. “There is both a star power and a huge depth. The teams will have the luxury of selecting half-portes which bear a fourth round note deeply in the last day of the draft, and are not shocked if the unresponsive runners of this unit continue to have quality careers in the league.”
Jeanty and Omarion Hampton de Caroline du Nord were chosen in the first round, and when the Steelers were on the chronometer to make the 83rd choice in total, only 3 others – Quinshon Judkins de l’Ohio State and Treveyon Henderson, and RJ Harvey from the Central Florida was out of the table. The Steelers did not need a lot of time to make Kaleb Johnson next.
At 6 feet 1 inch and 227 pounds, Johnson looks at the game, then his statistics and the way he compiled them finished the image.
“Johnson is built like a murderer, but his style is more finesse, preferring to win with tempo and determination,” wrote the analyst launches Zierlein for nfl.com “he keeps his races on time and on the right track, while allowing blockers to do their job.
The Pittsburgh Johnson group joins the veteran Jaylen Warren, and the fourth year professional Kenneth Gainwell, who played the 17 regular season games last season as a replacement for Saquon Barkley for the champion of Super Bowl Eagles. During the seasons of 2023-24, the Harris ranges threw him like the ball carrier n ° 1, with Warren as 1a which settled in a third rear role. Warren will show up at the training camp this summer as the number 1 clear, but there will be opportunities for Johnson to show why he was a choice of draft on the second day.
“We want to be more explosive,” said Smith. “The years I have had where you have guys who can tear explosive races, which can open more things in the Play-Action Pass or the Geeper Game or even Action screens. If you don’t have that, then you have to operate a different way.”
And by “different”, Smith was unlikely to mean “better”.
The draft of the NFL 2025 ends on Saturday with the league making towers 4-5-6-6, and with the Steelers having a choice in each-the 123rd, 156th and 229th in total. And there are still things to do.
They have only 2 -quarters under contract and, traditionally, they take 4 from the training camp, which the director general Omar Khan confirmed the case again this summer. A little more depth in the offensive tackle could be good, and maybe another corner half to add to the mixture. After Johnson’s choice, the number of list is 78; In addition, the 4 choices on Saturday are 82, then there could be half a dozen un residual recruits.
Steelers’ work in this project is not over, it’s true. But the fact that they added some good necessary parts with what they have done so far.
