Has Pittsburgh Finally Replaced Le’Veon Bell, Or Is Kaleb Johnson Destined for a Timeshare?

Kevin Szafraniec
May 7, 2025

Le’Veon Bell was not an elite prospect coming out of Michigan State but showed enough to be drafted by the Steelers in the middle of the second round of the 2013 NFL draft. His athletic testing was not overly impressive but still solid for a 230-pound back. Once in the NFL, Bell put together a strong rookie season before taking over the league in Year 2. From 2014 until 2017, Bell only fell outside PPR RB3 once, when he was limited to six games during the 2015 season.

In this year’s draft, Pittsburgh placed a bet on a similar player to Bell, Kaleb Johnson, when looking to fill their backfield vacancy. Possessing a versatile skill set and the body to handle the role of an NFL lead back, have the Steelers found themselves their next star RB?

Kaleb Johnson’s NFL Comps

Johnson was productive during his first two seasons at Iowa, but truly broke out as a junior in 2024. After the effects of an early ankle injury lingered throughout the 2023 season, Johnson was able to reclaim his freshman efficiency last year with the Hawkeyes. Not only that, but he also added a receiving element to his profile following two seasons of being an afterthought in the passing game.

Johnson’s increased production was due to more than just volume; he was also efficient. Of his 6.4 yards per carry (YPC) average in 2024, 3.9 of those yards came after contact (YACON), tying Cam Skattebo’s 2024 output while averaging 0.6 YPC more. As can be expected due to his YACON numbers, Johnson put up a strong 24.6% evasion percentage (EVAS%), of which the majority was made up of his 15.0% broken tackle percentage (BT%).

Overall, his 0.190 rushing points earned per play (ruPE/P) came in just above TreVeyon Henderson’s 0.187 ruPE/P from 2024, while also being no stranger to big plays with a 14.6% rushing BOOM percentage that bested the electric Bhayshul Tuten (14.2% ruBOOM%). Johnson also proved extremely reliable, not recording a single fumble on his 262 touches in 2024.

During his first year of legitimate usage as a receiver, Johnson was able to put up some solid peripherals in that area as well. His 122.4 receiver rating (reRTG) only trailed Skattebo and Raheim Sanders among the 2024 RB class. Johnson was able to improve upon his strong ruEVAS% with a reEVAS% of 36.4% (22.7% reBT%, 13.6% receiving forced missed tackle percentage). Johnson also proved to have reliable hands out of the backfield, recording only one drop on his 26 targets (4.2%).

After taking a big step forward in his junior season, Johnson was consistently being projected as a second-round pick, with some murmurs that he could even go on Day 1. When the combine came, Johnson did not blow the doors off the event, but by no means did poorly either.

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Kevin Szafraniec

Full-time Cat Dad, Sneakerhead, Record Collector, LOTR Fanboy, and Jeopardy Enthusiast. Fantasy football writer and beatmaker in my free time. Follow me on X and Bluesky @thecatdadff

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