The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t budge from their No. 83 selection or try to trade back into the second round. Instead, they stayed where they were at and landed great value with Iowa RB Kaleb Johnson in the third round. Draft experts were pretty positive about the Steelers’ pick of Derrick Harmon in the first round, but it seems that Johnson is earning rave reviews with the draft grades that are posted so far.
Yahoo Sports’ Charles McDonald kicked things off with an ‘A+’ grade.
“This is such a Steelers pick. Johnson is a big back with balance, and despite lacking top-end speed, he can rip off explosive runs with his patience and ability to set up blocks. Home run pick for Pittsburgh,” he wrote.
Arthur Smith described Johnson as the “perfect fit” in Pittsburgh. The Steelers like to run the football, and Kaleb Johnson is well acquainted with being the feature back in a run-first system. He faced more stacked boxes than almost anybody in college football last season. He will see some of that in Pittsburgh, but at least it won’t be anything new for him.
CBS Sports’ Mike Renner gave the Steelers a ‘B+’ grade for the Johnson pick.
“His patience, vision in that outside-zone scheme in Iowa and home run hitting ability is why he comes off the board here in the third round,” Renner said in a video on CBS Sports’ YouTube. “I love the fit. Iowa, if you know anything about them, they are a stretch-zone team almost exclusively. Arthur Smith, the Steelers’ offensive coordinator, if you know anything about him, he is a stretch zone offensive coordinator almost exclusively.
“All that vision, all that one-cut rushing ability that you see on his tape, it should translate.”
Smith said Johnson is capable of running in any system, whether it’s gap or zone. The Steelers do both to a certain extent, but Smith has always leaned toward outside zone. Johnson’s vision, agility, and burst are perfect for him to slip through cutback lanes, and he is tough to bring down at his size once he gets to the second level.
Pro Football Focus doesn’t give letter grades but instead has a scale from “Below Average” to “Elite”. It gave the Steelers a “Good” grade for Johnson.
“Johnson gives the Steelers a bruiser with the ball in his hands,” PFF wrote.
NFL.com’s Eric Edholm didn’t give out grades, but he offered brief analysis and called Johnson an upgrade over Najee Harris.
The consensus seems to be that the Steelers nailed this pick. OC Arthur Smith seems to think so, too. Between Harmon and Johnson, the Steelers have done well with limited draft capital over the first two days. Even better when you factor in DK Metcalf, for whom they traded their second-round pick.
