Kaleb Johnson, the 23-year-old running back who spent his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, is officially headed to Green Bay. In a move that’s got everyone talking right at the cutdown deadline, the Packers sent a seventh-round pick to the Steelers to snag the former third-round draft pick. It’s a low-cost gamble, but it signals some serious intentions from Green Bay about their running back depth as the regular season kicks off.
From Iowa All-American to a Crowded Depth Chart
Remember Kaleb Johnson coming out of Iowa? He was an All-American and a third-round pick for the Steelers just last season. Everyone had high hopes, but things in Pittsburgh just didn’t pan out for the young back. Johnson ended up absolutely buried on their depth chart, getting squeezed out after Pittsburgh brought in Rico Dowdle and Travis Homer behind their starter, Jaylen Warren. Talk about a crowded room, right? Johnson barely got a sniff of the ball in his rookie year, carrying it just 28 times for a measly 69 yards. That’s a brutal 2.5 yards per attempt. He did have the third-most attempts on the team, but get this, tight end Jonnu Smith actually had more rushing yards with 70 on nine carries! Yikes. Johnson also logged 11 special teams snaps over 10 games, with eight of those being kickoff returns, but it doesn’t look like that’s his main gig going forward.
Green Bay’s Backfield Gets a New Face
So, what are the Packers doing here? They just scooped up Johnson, adding him to an already intriguing running back corps. This trade means someone had to go, and it was Pierre Strong Jr. who got the axe, according to reports. Now, Green Bay looks set to roll into the regular season with Josh Jacobs, MarShawn Lloyd, Chris Brooks, and Johnson himself. It’s a fresh look for their ground game, and you gotta wonder what head coach Matt LaFleur and the staff see in Johnson that Pittsburgh missed. Funny enough, the Packers also signed Jonnu Smith earlier this week, the same Jonnu Smith who out-rushed Johnson last year and played for LaFleur when he was the Titans’ offensive coordinator. It also got reported that the Packers functionally traded QB Kyle McCord for Johnson, which is a pretty wild way to reshape your roster.
This move for Johnson is all about depth and maybe finding a diamond in the rough. Giving up a seventh-round pick for a player with third-round talent and a year of NFL experience, even if it was a rough one, could be a shrewd play. Now the big question for Packers fans is how Johnson fits into that backfield rotation. We’ll be watching closely to see if he can carve out a role and show what he’s truly capable of when the whistle blows for Week 1.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Acme Packing Company.
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