There’s been a lot of excitement over Pittsburgh Steelers third-round draft pick Kaleb Johnson. Johnson put together a wildly impressive junior campaign at Iowa, running for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns in the first season with Tim Lester at the helm as the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator. During a phone interview with Steelers Depot, Lester said that he thinks Johnson will find some comfort with Arthur Smith’s scheme, similar to what he ran with the Hawkeyes.
Lester worked with Matt LaFleur with the Green Bay Packers, where he picked up on running zone, and Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith also worked under LaFleur in Tennessee.
“I think there’s a lot of carryover as far as the type of runner he is and what Arthur’s doing. I know he was with Matt [LaFleur] in Tennessee, and that’s who I learned it from,” Lester said. “Super similar schemes, so there’ll be some comfort there.”
While there’s been much discussion about Johnson’s fit in a zone scheme, Lester believes he can be successful in multiple different run schemes, particularly duo.
“I was only with him for eight months, so there’s so many more. I think he’d be a great duo runner. We didn’t have the duo guys up front, and we didn’t run a ton of duo, but that was the first run I thought, like man, when this kid figures out duo, the A to B to C and bounce it and turn it on, he could be so good at it.”
While Johnson only had seven collegiate receptions before last year, he bumped that number up to 22. Lester thinks that Johnson is “very capable catching the ball,” but said there’s a need to improve his pass protection, which Johnson himself has admitted. It’s something he’s worked on with Steelers RB Jaylen Warren.
Lester introduced a mid-zone to Iowa when taking over as offensive coordinator last year, which is more of a one-cut style than outside zone or inside zone. Lester was impressed with Johnson’s ability to pick it up rather quickly.
“Guys are used to running straight downhill or running toward the sidelines. So, trying to get him at that 45-degree angle, it was uncomfortable for all the running backs when I got here. It was just rep after rep, and him just seeing it again and again. And then he was pretty natural at it. I don’t think anyone was natural at it during the spring, but by the time we hit the fall, he was really comfortable understanding that front-side tackle block, and when to flatten it out and when to stick a foot and get north.”
Lester called Johnson a “natural one-cut runner” and praised his understanding of the run scheme.
“We threw a brand new scheme. We changed everything when we got here. I would say just his improvement of understanding brand-new run systems. It’s hard and took a lot of people a long time to pick it up. And the funny thing is, he goes into the NFL, the system he’s gonna run may not be as crazy from his last year to this year. Because it was totally different.”
Johnson’s ability to bounce off defenders and break tackles is unique at any level, according to Lester.
“That’s the one skill set of all the ones that I think is the most unique, is how he breaks tackles in space. It’s not normal. It’s not a juke, it’s not like I’m cutting back against the grain. He makes a little inside move and then an outside move, and you gotta tackle him after that, because he’s gonna be ready for you to come and hit you. Those guys that break tackles really well inside the A-gaps, he has a unique knack when he gets outside the pocket of breaking tackles.”
One of the most impressive plays of Johnson’s career was when he took a bubble screen against Nebraska and bounced off seemingly endless tackles to find his way into the end zone.
Lester talked about Johnson’s ability to create explosive plays.
“Once we got him to the second level, it wasn’t just a five-yard gain or a seven-yard gain. It was a, you have to tackle him from the side, which is really hard to do for a guy that fast. That is, as far as a trait that I just haven’t seen in a lot of backs at any level, that was probably the most unique.”
He called the play against Nebraska a “perfect example” of Johnson’s unique size and speed, which helped him bounce off defenders and break tackles in the open field.
The Steelers could be getting a good one in Johnson. He’s a hard worker who seems to pick up on things quickly, and Lester was impressed with how he performed in his offense last year. With a similar scheme in Pittsburgh, Johnson has a real chance to live up to some of the preseason hype.
