Steelers' Kaleb Johnson Expected To Take Control At Running Back From Jaylen Warren During His First Season

The Pittsburgh Steelers addressed nearly every position of need during the 2025 NFL Draft, including the running back spot. The organization declined the fifth-year option of Najee Harris during the 2024 offseason, and he ended up signing with the Los Angeles Chargers shortly after hitting free agency. This opened up a ton of opportunity in the running back room in Pittsburgh, and it has been assumed that Jaylen Warren will be handling the majority of the workload. However, rookie Kaleb Johnson is a powerful runner that could end up being more important to the offense than expected.

Johnson ran the ball a lot while playing at Iowa. He was the lone bright spot of an otherwise miserable offense. Iowa is fairly similar to the Steelers due to their typically stifling defense and desire to run the football, and Johnson put up over 1,500 yards on the ground in 2024 to go with 23 total touchdowns. 

He is going to be bringing some of that excitement to the backfield in Pittsburgh where he will be sharing the workload with Warren and Kenneth Gainwell, but Johnson may overtake the two veterans fairly early on. ESPN recently published a column asking some of their experts who will be some rookies that are great for fantasy football, and Johnson's name was said by Aaron Schatz.

"Johnson." Schatz wrote when asked about mid-round picks with great fantasy value. "Advanced metrics have always loved Pittsburgh's other back (Warren), but let's be honest, Johnson has the clearest route to playing time of any player taken after the first two rounds."

Pittsburgh drafted Johnson in the third round of the draft, and Schatz seems to believe Johnson has a clear path to seeing significant snaps. The running back class in 2025 was very deep, and the Steelers are surely planning on Johnson playing a significant role in the offense. Warren has never been the lead back before, and it is unclear how he will perform in the role. If he can't handle it, Johnson will be there to take over. 

If Johnson becomes a fixture of the offense in Pittsburgh, Warren will still play an important role. It just won't be the "lead back" title many thought he might have going into the 2025 season. The two backs are entirely different in the way they run and their size, so there is no reason they both can't be great while playing together. This is something Field Yates believes, and he mentioned it in the same column.

"The Steelers have a thin backfield with Warren, who is extremely talented but not someone they want to lean on." Yates wrote. "Johnson's size, power and vision should be a nice complement to Warren's explosiveness and quickness."

The thing Pittsburgh will be missing without Harris at running back is dependability. Harris never missed a start over the four years he was with the Steelers. Warren has struggled with minor injuries throughout his career, and Johnson can certainly bring some of that reliability to the room that Harris used to provide.

Steelers' Johnson Has Experience With Pittsburgh's Offense

Pittsburgh likes to run a decent amount of outside zone, which is something that was a staple in Iowa's offense. Another similarity between the two situations is the willingness to run the football. Iowa did not have a reliable passing game, so often times the offense was facing a stacked box from the defense. 

Johnson still found ways to have success despite the defense knowing a run was coming, which is often the case in Pittsburgh. He was playing against different levels of talent, but it is the same idea. If Johnson can have similar levels of success for the Steelers, the run game should burst wide open. This will also aid the passing game, and the Steelers offense might even look slightly competent again.

What do you think the split will look like in the back field in 2025? Let us know in the comments below!

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