Coming into the NFL as a third-round pick and fresh off a dominant final season with the Iowa Hawkeyes, expectations were high for running back Kaleb Johnson. Landing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he seemed like a perfect fit in former offensive coordinator Arthur Smith\u2019s zone-rushing attack.<\/p>\n
Johnson looked good early in training camp, but then preseason action started. He looked slow and unsure of himself and failed to carve out a role offensively.<\/p>\n
Where he had a role right away though was as a kick returner, and late in the Week 2 matchup with the eventual Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks, things went disastrously wrong<\/a> with Johnson not knowing the rules on a kickoff, leading to a Seattle touchdown.<\/p>\n Johnson was benched for the gaffe and didn\u2019t have much of a role offensively the rest of the season. Entering Year 2 he has a fresh start with a new coaching staff, but he appears to be the odd man out in a running room<\/a> featuring Jaylen Warren, free agent signee Rico Dowdle, veteran special teams ace Travis Homer, and rookie seventh-round pick Eli Heidenreich.<\/p>\n Longtime Steelers reporter Mark Kaboly isn\u2019t ready to move on from Johnson though.<\/p>\n \u201cI just haven\u2019t seen anything from Kaleb Johnson to say I wanna give up on him yet and put him on a practice squad. You\u2019re taking that into account that he might go somewhere else,\u201d Kaboly said Monday, according to video via 93.7 The Fan.<\/a> \u201cHe might not clear waivers. He might go somewhere. So, I don\u2019t think I\u2019m at that point yet of thinking he\u2019s a total bust.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen anything from him other than a missed, what, kickoff? That\u2019s all we really saw.\u201d<\/p>\n That kickoff gaffe was pretty dreadful and helped cost the Steelers the game. After that he very rarely saw the field.<\/p>\n