It was a rough showing in the preseason opener for Pittsburgh Steelers rookie running back Kaleb Johnson, who admitted he played too timid, raising some early concerns regarding his outlook in the Black and Gold.
But Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium, Johnson put many of those concerns to rest. The rookie third-round pick out of Iowa rushed for 50 yards on 11 carries, showing off his feel in the zone rushing attack. He hit a couple of big runs on cutbacks that showed his vision and feel.
The performance was one that Johnson, who spoke to reporters after the loss to Tampa Bay, feels good about. But he also acknowledged he left some plays on the field, too, and still has plenty to work on.
“Talking with my linemen and really connecting with them, we was talking all week and it’s how I should be executing and doing better and progressing, developing over time,” Johnson said of his performance against Tampa Bay, according to video on X via The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo. “And I feel like I did that today, but I feel like there was some stuff that I left on the field, too, at the same time.
“So I feel like I did good, but I wanna go back in the lab, do the rest of the work and be 110% of all my stuff.”
At times in his preseason debut against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, Johnson looked hesitant, unsure of himself, and really didn’t trust his instincts. It led to a rough showing in which he had just 20 yards on eight carries.
Head coach Mike Tomlin wanted to see him play with more feel and instincts, trusting himself and his eyes. That’s what happened against the Buccaneers.
On one of his runs, Johnson nearly matched his output against Jacksonville, ripping off a 14-yard run on a nice cutback in the zone rushing attack. The backside gap opened thanks to a great cut block from tight end Connor Heyward, allowing Johnson to hit the seam and stress the defense.
For Johnson, it was all about pressing the line of scrimmage properly, setting things up in the zone scheme.
“Just the flow and you pressing the back of the hills of the line. That’s my main thing that I’m working on right now is pressing and really catching out backfield, and my protection,” Johnson added, according to video via DeFabo. “So just working on those every day and staying detailed every day and just working on those. Go get back to it Monday, same thing.”
Though Tomlin wasn’t thrilled with the run game overall coming out of the half Saturday night, the Steelers picked it up in the third quarter, and Johnson was a big part of that.
In the third quarter, Johnson added runs of 9, 9 and 7 yards, helping eventually set up a 1-yard Trey Sermon rushing touchdown to tie the game at 14-14.
Averaging 4.5 yards per carry on a night in which the Steelers rushed for 130 yards was a strong showing for the rookie. There are still some things to work on, but it was a nice sign of growth from one preseason game to the next.
As Tomlin likes to say, that was reasonable to expect.
