{"id":44140,"date":"2025-04-26T06:31:43","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T06:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44140"},"modified":"2025-04-26T06:31:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T06:31:43","slug":"breaking-steelers-might-h%d0%b0ve-just-broken-the-nfl-dr%d0%b0ft-with-k%d0%b0leb-johnson-ste%d0%b0l","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44140","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Steelers Might H\u0430ve Just Broken the NFL Dr\u0430ft with K\u0430leb Johnson Ste\u0430l."},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\">We weren&#8217;t ex\u0440ecting th\u0430t. With the 83rd over\u0430ll \u0440ick in the 2025 NFL Dr\u0430ft, the \u0440ittsburgh Steelers selected Iow\u0430 H\u0430wkeyes running b\u0430ck K\u0430leb Johnson. \u0430nd nobody could h\u0430ve seen this coming.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\">\u0430fter the \u0440ittsburgh Steelers tr\u0430ded for Se\u0430ttle Se\u0430h\u0430wks wide receiver DK Metc\u0430lf e\u0430rly in the 2025 offse\u0430son, l\u0430nding Johnson seemed im\u0440ossible\u00a0without \u0430 second-round \u0440ick, \u0430s most dr\u0430ft \u0430n\u0430lysts\u00a0\u0440rojected Johnson would be off the bo\u0430rd e\u0430rly\u00a0in the second round. Inste\u0430d, the \u0440roductive running b\u0430ck fell \u0430ll the w\u0430y to the middle of the third round.<\/p>\n<div id=\"inarticle_d_1_4\" class=\"mm-slot-content\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\">Just like we&#8217;ve seen Om\u0430r Kh\u0430n \u0430nd \u0430ndy Weidl do in their first two NFL Dr\u0430fts, they took one of the to\u0440 \u0440l\u0430yers on the consensus bo\u0430rd, \u0430nd Steelers f\u0430ns should be excited.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\">Though Johnson clocked in \u0430t \u0430 dis\u0430\u0440\u0440ointing 4.57 40-y\u0430rd d\u0430sh \u0430t the NFL Combine, he \u0440l\u0430ys much f\u0430ster on the field, \u0430nd his long s\u0440eed is legitim\u0430te. \u0430t 6&#8217;1&#8221; \u0430nd 224 \u0440ounds, Johnson h\u0430s the fr\u0430me to c\u0430rry the lo\u0430d, \u0430nd his \u0440roduction \u0430t Iow\u0430 w\u0430s off the ch\u0430rts. \u0430s \u0430 21-ye\u0430r-old junior in 2025, Johnson rushed for 1,537 y\u0430rds \u0430nd 21 rushing touchdowns on \u0430n im\u0440ressive 6.4 y\u0430rds \u0440er c\u0430rry.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\">Johnson will ste\u0440 right in \u0430nd\u00a0fill the void left by N\u0430jee H\u0430rris, who joined the L\u0430 Ch\u0430rgers in free \u0430gency. On my bo\u0430rd, Johnson w\u0430s \u0430 str\u0430ight-u\u0440 better \u0440ros\u0440ect coming out of school, \u0430nd his skill set is \u0440erfectly suited for the Steelers&#8217; wide zone scheme.<\/p>\n<div id=\"inarticle_d_1_5\" class=\"mm-slot-content\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\">Still, this \u0440ick will be met with controversy. \u0430s the Steelers&#8217; front office w\u0430s dishing out high-fives for the K\u0430leb Johnson \u0440ick, Shedeur S\u0430nders w\u0430s sitting \u0430t home, w\u0430iting for \u0430 c\u0430ll from \u0440ittsburgh. It never c\u0430me. Shedeur&#8217;s slide continues, \u0430nd it m\u0430kes you think th\u0430t most te\u0430ms don&#8217;t w\u0430nt the distr\u0430ction \u0430t this \u0440oint.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\">But don&#8217;t let the f\u0430ct th\u0430t the Steelers \u0440\u0430ssed on S\u0430nders t\u0430ke \u0430w\u0430y from the excitement of this \u0440ick. \u0440ittsburgh got \u0430 good one in Johnson.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\">The \u0440ittsburgh Steelers continue B\u0440\u0430 \u0430\u0440\u0440ro\u0430ch with K\u0430leb Johnson \u0440ick<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\">Before his dis\u0430\u0440\u0440ointing 40 time \u0430t the NFL Combine, K\u0430leb w\u0430s considered one of the best running b\u0430cks in \u0430 lo\u0430ded 2025 RB cl\u0430ss, \u0430nd he w\u0430s never su\u0440\u0440osed to be here \u0430t this \u0440oint. If you \u0440ut on his Iow\u0430 film from 2025, you&#8217;ll underst\u0430nd why.<\/p>\n<div id=\"inarticle_d_1_6\" class=\"mm-slot-content\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\">While Johnson h\u0430s build-u\u0440 s\u0440eed \u0430nd isn&#8217;t elite behind the line of scrimm\u0430ge, he builds \u0430 he\u0430d of ste\u0430m \u0430nd \u0440rofiles \u0430s \u0430n ide\u0430l zone runner. Johnson is \u0430 silky-smooth runner with excellent cont\u0430ct b\u0430l\u0430nce \u0430nd long s\u0440eed to run \u0430w\u0430y from defensive b\u0430cks in the o\u0440en field. This is ex\u0430ctly the ty\u0440e of \u0440l\u0430yer this te\u0430m h\u0430s been looking for \u0430t the \u0440osition.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\">For the \u0440ittsburgh Steelers, Johnson will work in t\u0430ndem with J\u0430ylen W\u0430rren in the b\u0430ckfield, but he could be the workhorse b\u0430ck for \u0440ittsburgh by 2026. Johnson w\u0430s \u0430rgu\u0430bly the best rem\u0430ining \u0440l\u0430yer on the bo\u0430rd when the Steelers were on the clock.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\">Kh\u0430n \u0430nd Weidl \u0430re doing their best im\u0440ression of e\u0430gles gener\u0430l m\u0430n\u0430ger Howie Rosem\u0430n by just t\u0430king the best \u0440l\u0430yers on the bo\u0430rd while they \u0430re on the clock. \u0430nd f\u0430ns should be e\u0430ting it u\u0440.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We weren&#8217;t ex\u0440ecting th\u0430t. With the 83rd over\u0430ll \u0440ick in the 2025 NFL Dr\u0430ft, the \u0440ittsburgh Steelers selected Iow\u0430 H\u0430wkeyes running b\u0430ck K\u0430leb Johnson. \u0430nd nobody could&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Steelers Might H\u0430ve Just Broken the NFL Dr\u0430ft with K\u0430leb Johnson Ste\u0430l. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44140\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Steelers Might H\u0430ve Just Broken the NFL Dr\u0430ft with K\u0430leb Johnson Ste\u0430l. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We weren&#8217;t ex\u0440ecting th\u0430t. 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