You don’t spend a top-two draft pick on a running back just to have him sit all season—especially in what was billed as one of the best RB classes in a generation. Kaleb Johnson was the sixth of 25 backs who had their name called in late April, and he was immediately dubbed the “perfect fit” for Arthur Smith and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense.
One analyst thinks they need to get him more involved.
“I think they definitely need a complementary back. At the moment, they don’t have one,” The 33rd Team’s Sam Monson said via Check The Mic. “They drafted Kaleb Johnson. I don’t know if he’s now permanently in the dog house. He hasn’t been a factor yet so far this season and they kinda need him. That was a pick I think a lot of people liked. It made a ton of sense. Najee Harris has left, there’s a space for that complementary back and at the moment they’re not using him at all in that role. I think they need to.”
Through two games, Johnson only has logged four total snaps on offense and two carries for negative-one yard. It’s hard to justify carving out a larger role for him when he has failed so miserably on special teams as the return specialist. But that’s a job in which he had very limited experience, and under an entirely different rule set from college.
Is he fully ready for five-to-seven carries per game on early downs? Maybe not. The only way to get him ready for later in the season is to give him carries. Imagine a scenario in which Jaylen Warren suffers a significant injury. From what we’ve seen so far, the ground game can’t run entirely through Kenneth Gainwell, and Johnson would be woefully underprepared if things continue how they are.
Warren looked pretty good as a lead back in Week 2. That doesn’t need to change. The goal should be to get Johnson, a zone-run specialist in college, integrated into the offense. That part of their scheme hasn’t been clicking, and that’s exactly what Johnson was drafted to help solve. It’s impossible to point to two carries with no success and draw any hard conclusions. The only true test is giving him a handful of carries per game. It’s not as if the offense is clicking otherwise.
Playing Johnson right now given what happened in Week 2 might be counter to conventional logic, but the rookie needs a chance to work through his adversity rather than stew in it for weeks until his next opportunity.
If the Steelers want long-term balance on offense this season, Johnson needs to be a part of that solution.
