{"id":266796,"date":"2026-08-17T10:40:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T10:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/266796\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T10:40:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T10:40:18","slug":"valuable-draft-picks-time-in-pittsburgh-might-be-over-before-it-started-after-steelers-first-preseason-game-and-latest-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/266796\/","title":{"rendered":"Valuable draft pick’s time in Pittsburgh might be over before it started after Steelers’ first preseason game and latest practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\tHome<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNFL<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPittsburgh Steelers<\/a><\/p>\n

It might officially be time to worry about a 2025 draft pick that many were very excited for following evidence from the Steelers\u2019 Week 1 preseason game and practice over the weekend in Latrobe. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Jul
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJul 30, 2026; Latrobe, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kaleb Johnson (20) participates in training camp drills at Saint Vincent College.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCharles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> may be ready to move on from running back Kaleb Johnson<\/a>, and the signs are becoming harder to ignore. Johnson, a third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, played just 5 snaps in Thursday night\u2019s preseason opener<\/a>. That alone raised eyebrows. What happened next should raise alarms.<\/p>\n

When Sunday\u2019s full-pads practice rolled around, 5 other running backs took reps before Johnson. Five. He was the sixth running back up. For a player entering his second year who was supposed to be developing into a contributor, that\u2019s a damning depth chart signal from a coaching staff that has seen enough.<\/p>\n

Kaleb Johnson 2025 stats<\/p>\n

28 total carries <\/p>\n

69 rushing yards (2.5 yards per carry).<\/p>\n

0 touchdowns. <\/p>\n

McCarthy\u2019s clean slate hasn\u2019t materialized<\/p>\n

When Mike McCarthy took over as head coach, he made it clear that everyone would get a fresh start. He compared the operation to a Catholic institution, joking with reporters at the league meetings that players could say their Hail Marys and earn a clean slate. That message seemed tailor-made for Johnson<\/a>, who spent his entire rookie season buried after a botched kickoff return ended any chance of meaningful playing time under Mike Tomlin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The truth is, that clean slate doesn\u2019t appear to be materializing. Johnson has been fully practicing throughout training camp with no apparent injury keeping him off the field. Yet when the real competition started, the Steelers made their feelings known through actions rather than words. He can\u2019t crack the rotation in practice, and he couldn\u2019t earn more than a handful of snaps in the preseason opener.<\/p>\n

A new scheme, the same results<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my main issue with Johnson\u2019s situation. This isn\u2019t just a case of a player failing to connect with one coaching staff. Johnson was in Tomlin\u2019s doghouse last season, and that was understandable given how his rookie year unfolded. But McCarthy brought in a completely new environment, a scheme that should theoretically fit Johnson\u2019s skillset better, and the results are identical.<\/p>\n

When a player can\u2019t get on the field under two different coaching staffs with two different systems, the problem stops being about scheme fit or opportunity. It becomes about the player. That\u2019s a tough reality for a guy the Steelers invested a third-round pick in just over a year ago.<\/p>\n

What comes next for Johnson?<\/p>\n

If Pittsburgh is going to move on from Johnson, the logical first step would be exploring the trade market. The problem is that a running back who couldn\u2019t earn playing time under either Tomlin or McCarthy isn\u2019t exactly a hot commodity. There\u2019s a real chance Johnson gets cut outright by the Steelers without the team recouping any draft capital.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is this: the Steelers had high hopes for Johnson when they drafted him, but he\u2019s never shown enough to justify the roster spot. Under Tomlin, he was buried. Under McCarthy, with a scheme that should fit him better, nothing has changed. At some point, the investment stops mattering more than the results \u2014 and Pittsburgh may already be at that point.<\/p>\n

\"Play<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Nov\t\t<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSteelers reunite with a welcome face that could spell the end of a tenured veteran\u2019s time in Pittsburgh\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers play a game in less than 24 hours, and they have added a last-minute depth piece who could spell trouble for a tenured veteran, and bolster a group that has long been a thorn in the Steelers\u2019 side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home \/ NFL \/ Pittsburgh Steelers It might officially be time to worry about a 2025 draft pick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[8177,54502,73,75,74,1833,4853,22891],"class_list":["post-266796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-american-football","tag-kaleb-johnson","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-news","tag-steelers-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}