{"id":45109,"date":"2025-04-30T02:27:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T02:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=45109"},"modified":"2025-04-30T02:27:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T02:27:57","slug":"breaking-steelers-draft-pick-endears-himself-to-pittsburgh-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=45109","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Steelers Draft Pick Endears Himself to Pittsburgh Fans.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"m-detail-header--dek\">The Pittsburgh Steelers have what his expected to be another successful NFL Draft in the books.<\/div>\n<div class=\"m-detail-header--flexbox\">\n<div class=\"m-detail-header--meta\">\n<div class=\"m-description--list\">\n<p>The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0have what his expected to be another successful\u00a0NFL Draft\u00a0in the books.<\/p>\n<p>General manager Omar Khan was able to address some immediate needs of the team while also making some picks for the future.<\/p>\n<p>By most measures, the Steelers&#8217; draft class was graded highly, with a couple of picks standing out.<\/p>\n<p>Defensive tackle Derrick Harmon is expected to step in almost immediately and help with\u00a0quarterback pressure, and running back Kaleb Johnson should be able to kickstart the running game where Najee Smith left off.<\/p>\n<p>But\u00a0it was Johnson who reached out to the Pittsburgh faithful\u00a0via X on Tuesday, showing his excitement to be headed to the Steelers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"m-detail--body-item m-detail--body-twitter-embed\">\n<figure class=\"m-embed mm-embed--twitter l-inline\">\n<div class=\"rna-container rh-null\" data-embed-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kj_Superman2\/status\/1916838679474999772\" data-rhp=\"1\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=IndyCarTim&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1916838679474999772&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fathlonsports.com%2Fnfl%2Fpittsburgh-steelers%2Fpittsburgh-steelers-draft-kaleb-johnson-message-fans-update-news&amp;sessionId=d91ea681a1803a35ed55f9095b30b228165e8fa9&amp;siteScreenName=athlonsports&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1916838679474999772\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;So glad to be steeler! i\u2019m going to give steeler nation my all!!!!\u00a0#GoLers\u00a0#HereWeGo<strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Johnson is joined by a couple of Iowa Hawkeyes teammates in fifth-round pick Yahya Black and undrafted free agent Sebastian Castro.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson is expected to immediately compete for a starting job alongside Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell.<\/p>\n<p>The Hamilton, Ohio, native led the\u00a0Big Ten\u00a0in rushing yards last season with 1,537 on 240 carries. He also led the conference with 21 touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>Over his three-year collegiate career, Johnson rushed for 2,779 yards on 508 carries while averaging 5.5 yards per across 35 games with the Hawkeyes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Steelers have what his expected to be another successful NFL Draft in the books. The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0have what his expected to be another successful\u00a0NFL Draft\u00a0in the&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45109","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 Draft Pick Endears Himself to Pittsburgh Fans.. - 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=45109\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Steelers Draft Pick Endears Himself to Pittsburgh Fans.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Pittsburgh Steelers have what his expected to be another successful NFL Draft in the books. 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