The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a ton of success through the years at finding talented offensive skill position players on Day 2 of the NFL Draft, and the 2025 NFL Draft class should be expected to carry on that tradition.
In fact, the Steelers got maybe the most obvious steal of the second day of the 2025 NFL Draft when they took Iowa Hawkeyes running back Kaleb Johnson, one of the best running backs in all of college football last season and someone who would have gotten a lot more attention if it weren't for Ashton Jeanty having an other-worldly season at the same exact time.
Johnson's success at Iowa wasn't taken seriously enough by the rest of the NFL as he mistakenly wasn't taken until the third round by the Steelers. The fact that he's already showing out at Steelers training camp should surprise exactly nobody.
Kaleb Johnson an early standout at Pittsburgh Steelers training camp in 2025
Rookie #Steelers RB Kaleb Johnson:
— Christopher Carter (@CarterCritiques) July 26, 2025
“I feel like the hidden part of my game is my speed and my catching ability. I feel like I can really contribute with my catching … protections and stuff like that. A-Rod and all the quarterbacks, I feel like they’re trust in me now.” pic.twitter.com/MieYRofGFK
Johnson was perhaps overlooked a bit in the pre-draft process because there's a little too much "projecting" to his game at the NFL level. Of course, we know he can run the ball well. He ran against stacked boxes all the time at Iowa because he was their only source of offense whatsoever there. But the issue with Johnson being one of the most overlooked prospects in this class is rooted in the fact that he couldn't be featured properly in Iowa's offense.
How are you supposed to feature a running back in the passing game when you have no passing game to speak of? Defenses were keying in on Johnson every single play, every single week. Any offense Iowa got from other players was considered a surprise to everyone.
Johnson's abilities as a receiver and in pass protection were rarely highlighted as a result, and we saw him selected in the third round because of it.
And at this point, it shouldn't shock anybody if the Steelers end up having a guy who runs for over 1,000 yards as a rookie. Johnson is already that good as a runner, but with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and guys like DK Metcalf at receiver, Johnson is going to be facing way fewer stacked boxes than he did at any point in his collegiate career.
A guy who can already break tackles and create after contact getting chances to run with less than eight guys in the box? This has a chance to be one of the most impactful day two picks of the entire 2025 NFL Draft class, and other teams will be kicking themselves for not taking him.