Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban coached former Steelers RB Najee Harris in college, and Saban sees a lot of similarities between Harris and Steelers third-round pick Kaleb Johnson. On the ABC broadcast of the NFL Draft, Saban said that Johnson and Harris are the same type of player. He also believes that Johnson is a “really good fit” for the Steelers.
“They lost Najee Harris, the Steelers. To me, this guy’s that type of player,” Saban said. “He’s really a downhill runner. He’s got great size. He’s a great zone runner to stretch, put his foot in the ground, hit a crease and go. So I think this guy’s a really good fit for the Steelers.”
Harris came out of Alabama at 6’1 and 232 pounds, and Johnson has similar size at 6010 and 224 pounds. One area where Johnson excelled over Harris in college was his explosiveness, as Harris never had a run longer than 53 yards. Meanwhile, Johnson has multiple runs of 60+ yards, including two 75-yard runs. But the size profile and the ability to get downhill is similar, and it should make for a seamless fit for Johnson in Pittsburgh’s offense.
With Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell both expected to play a role in Pittsburgh’s offense, it makes sense the team would target a bigger back in Johnson who can play more of the role that Harris did for the Steelers. He fits Arthur Smith’s scheme well, as he played in a similar one at Iowa. He should be an immediate impact player in Pittsburgh’s backfield.
Drafting Johnson in the third round was very good value. Most people projected Johnson to be off the board in the second round. He came in for a pre-draft visit with the Steelers, and with him falling to No. 83 overall, the Steelers got a player who they did a lot of work on pre-draft. They also had scouts at Iowa’s matchup against Ohio State earlier this season. In that game, Johnson ran 15 times for 86 yards and a touchdown.
Arthur Smith said after the selection that Johnson is a player who can help make the Steelers offense more explosive, which is something they’ve been lacking in the run game. His size and downhill running ability is very similar to Najee Harris, but his ability to break off big runs should give the Steelers an element that the offense lacked with Harris leading the backfield. Harris also ran for over 1,000 yards in all four of his seasons in Pittsburgh. The Steelers will likely be happy if they can get similar production out of Kaleb Johnson.
