When the Pittsburgh Steelers spent their third-round pick on Kaleb Johnson earlier this year, there was hope he’d quickly carve out a role in their backfield. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. Johnson’s career got off to a slow start. Then, he made a serious mistake in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. Johnson let a ball roll into the end zone, and the Seahawks recovered it for a touchdown. Now, a few weeks removed from that gaffe, Johnson feels it’s behind him.
“For sure,” Johnson said Tuesday via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s YouTube channel. “It’s been long gone. I’m just focused on really winning a championship. I wanna win a championship with this team, I wanna be a part of it. So, whatever I gotta do, do extra. Just taking it week by week and listening and working my ass off.”
That kind of error can be a confidence killer for rookies. Johnson’s career had barely started, and he was getting a ton of ridicule. He could have allowed that mistake to weigh him down.
However, Mike Tomlin didn’t bury Johnson. In Week 3, the rookie running back didn’t touch the field, but that wasn’t too surprising. Some were suggesting that Johnson not play for the rest of the year. While Tomlin didn’t go that far, he still sat Johnson for a week.
Since then, though, Johnson has looked better. He’s done returning kicks, but he’s been better running the ball. In Week 4, Johnson had 6 carries for 22 yards. Before that, he had only two carries for negative one yard. Therefore, Week 4 was a drastic improvement.
Then, in Week 6, Johnson continued stacking good plays. He recorded another six carries, this time for 15 yards. While neither performance was game-changing, it showed that the Steelers still have confidence in Johnson.
We’ll see if his role continues to grow as the season progresses. Right now, Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell are running well. That leaves Johnson with few opportunities to prove himself. He’s been alright in limited action, though. Considering how bleak things looked for him in Week 2, it’s nice to see Johnson bouncing back.
