KalebJohnson

News: 4 days agoHead coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Johnson "probably" won't be returning kickoffs against the Patriots in Week 3, Brooke Pryor of ESPN reports.

Spin: Johnson saw just six snaps (two on offense, four on special teams) during the Steelers' 31-17 loss to the Seahawks on Sunday. Despite the limited playing time, he made a big impact in a bad way by failing to retrieve a kickoff return into the end zone, which led to George Holani recovering the ball for a Seattle touchdown. Johnson has turned two carries into minus-1 yard over the first two games of the regular season, and depsite plenty of preseason hype, the 2025 third-round pick is far from being relevant in the Steelers' offense behind Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell on the backfield depth chart.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Johnson was selected by Pittsburgh in the third round of April's draft. He isn't super-fast (4.57 40-yard dash) or quick (1.62 10-yard split), which limited his output at Iowa (only 34% of runs went for 5-plus yards), but he's one of the biggest backs in this class. He's seemingly a capable receiver, but didn't do it much in college (38 targets) and needs work as a pass blocker, so his fantasy ceiling might be a bit limited. That's especially the case with Jaylen Warren positioned to handle upward of half of the carries and most of the passing-down work. Johnson may eventually emerge as the de facto Najee Harris replacement in run-heavy Pittsburgh, so he's well worth a midround flier, but don't be surprised if he gets off to a slow start.