Kaleb Johnson's the Steelers' No. 3 running back on a roster that won't willingly welcome anyone with that as a singular role. And I'm basing that on Mike McCarthy having stated way back in March at the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix, ”If guys are gonna make the 53-man roster, everybody has to have two jobs, unless you’re a kicker or a quarterback."
Not an awesome scenario for someone fresh off a rough rookie year that, as the rotten cherry on top, saw him banished from special teams in the opening month after ... oh, you know.
Otherwise, he'd appear in only 10 games, carrying 28 times for 69 yards, seeing significant action only in Dublin, Ireland, since Jaylen Warren couldn't go, and again later with a quality cameo against the Dolphins at Acrisure Stadium. Which wasn't what anyone had envisioned when the previous coaching staff had been bona fide giddy over getting him in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft out of Iowa, where he was a relentless workhorse.
So, now what?
I grabbed him coming off the field yesterday following practice at the mandatory minicamp at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex and fired away on all of that, plus the new presence of Rico Dowdle in the backfield, and it's worth a play:
Being completely candid, I'm not sure what to make of this situation. Those coaches who were giddy are now gone. So's the wide-zone blocking scheme that Arthur Smith loved and was at least part of the motivation for drafting Johnson. And so's any pretense that he's about to challenge either of the two co-starters. And so's any automatic assumption about partaking on special teams, even though that'll be one plus in having new coaches.
Can't say this enough: Loved the college tape and resume. Really got to like the young man himself over the course of the season, especially when he was smiling over in Ireland.
Uphill climb here. He'll need those tree-trunk legs.
GREG MACAFEE / DKPS
Kaleb Johnson stiff-arms a pad held by a team staffer Wednesday on the South Side.
• Base Nick Herbig's four-year, $100 million extension on what this management expects of him, and not what Mike Tomlin and staff expected of him. Certainly not after Tomlin stapled him to the sideline for the better part of the Steelers' final two -- and most important -- games of the 2025 NFL season, in apparent fear that Herbig couldn't handle the Baltimore/Houston power offenses.
It's a hopeful approach, sure, but it's hardly cynical. And my own expectation is that, if a player's so extraordinary at creating defensive splash every half-dozen snaps or so, it's incumbent on the coaches to navigate anything else.
In fact, I'd think that's kinda obvious.
• How to use Herbig with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith?
Here again, figure it out. And do so in much the same spirit Watt strikingly spoke of his newfound flexibility in moving around the defensive front: "I think, in the past, it was more about me being stubborn. I think this new system allows ... a lot of it's built in, so I really can't say no. I have to move with it."
Interpret that however one will, but don't ignore the entire herd of elephants in that living room. Watt had been making that self-styled stubbornness known for years. No one should've heeded.
• My unsolicited solution: Rotate, rotate, rotate. Not just positions, but people on the field. Jack Sawyer, too. Edge rusher's a max-effort role, and Watt himself has told me many times he's a superior performer when he's spelled. Fifty snaps each sounds fine.
I've been told, by the way, that the Mount's forced himself into the new playbook even more than McCarthy himself had anticipated upon taking the job. Here's hoping.
• Also been told the Joey Porter extension will be done sooner rather than later. He'll make Herbig's money look like coins under the couch pillows.
• Mason McCormick, who's moved from right guard to left as part of the mass migration within the offensive line, had a telling response when I asked about this:
Hard to argue the logic. Still, man, that's everyone but Zach Frazier in a different spot. Can't convince me that won't still be an issue through, say September.
• Been so cool to have Greg Macafee with us shooting these sessions. Check his photo gallery and, if you like what you see, leave a kind word.
• On a similar note, that's a useful exclusive from Chris Halicke to report that, even after Herbig's signing, the Steelers have 'zero' intention to trade Highsmith. Gotta know the territory.
THE ASYLUM
DK: Johnson won't have time for rookie regrets
Kaleb Johnson's the Steelers' No. 3 running back on a roster that won't willingly welcome anyone with that as a singular role. And I'm basing that on Mike McCarthy having stated way back in March at the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix, ”If guys are gonna make the 53-man roster, everybody has to have two jobs, unless you’re a kicker or a quarterback."
Not an awesome scenario for someone fresh off a rough rookie year that, as the rotten cherry on top, saw him banished from special teams in the opening month after ... oh, you know.
Otherwise, he'd appear in only 10 games, carrying 28 times for 69 yards, seeing significant action only in Dublin, Ireland, since Jaylen Warren couldn't go, and again later with a quality cameo against the Dolphins at Acrisure Stadium. Which wasn't what anyone had envisioned when the previous coaching staff had been bona fide giddy over getting him in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft out of Iowa, where he was a relentless workhorse.
So, now what?
I grabbed him coming off the field yesterday following practice at the mandatory minicamp at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex and fired away on all of that, plus the new presence of Rico Dowdle in the backfield, and it's worth a play:
Being completely candid, I'm not sure what to make of this situation. Those coaches who were giddy are now gone. So's the wide-zone blocking scheme that Arthur Smith loved and was at least part of the motivation for drafting Johnson. And so's any pretense that he's about to challenge either of the two co-starters. And so's any automatic assumption about partaking on special teams, even though that'll be one plus in having new coaches.
Can't say this enough: Loved the college tape and resume. Really got to like the young man himself over the course of the season, especially when he was smiling over in Ireland.
Uphill climb here. He'll need those tree-trunk legs.
GREG MACAFEE / DKPS
Kaleb Johnson stiff-arms a pad held by a team staffer Wednesday on the South Side.
• Base Nick Herbig's four-year, $100 million extension on what this management expects of him, and not what Mike Tomlin and staff expected of him. Certainly not after Tomlin stapled him to the sideline for the better part of the Steelers' final two -- and most important -- games of the 2025 NFL season, in apparent fear that Herbig couldn't handle the Baltimore/Houston power offenses.
It's a hopeful approach, sure, but it's hardly cynical. And my own expectation is that, if a player's so extraordinary at creating defensive splash every half-dozen snaps or so, it's incumbent on the coaches to navigate anything else.
In fact, I'd think that's kinda obvious.
• How to use Herbig with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith?
Here again, figure it out. And do so in much the same spirit Watt strikingly spoke of his newfound flexibility in moving around the defensive front: "I think, in the past, it was more about me being stubborn. I think this new system allows ... a lot of it's built in, so I really can't say no. I have to move with it."
Interpret that however one will, but don't ignore the entire herd of elephants in that living room. Watt had been making that self-styled stubbornness known for years. No one should've heeded.
• My unsolicited solution: Rotate, rotate, rotate. Not just positions, but people on the field. Jack Sawyer, too. Edge rusher's a max-effort role, and Watt himself has told me many times he's a superior performer when he's spelled. Fifty snaps each sounds fine.
• Darnell Washington for four years and $42 million, with half that guaranteed?
Yes, please, Part II.
I've been told, by the way, that the Mount's forced himself into the new playbook even more than McCarthy himself had anticipated upon taking the job. Here's hoping.
• Also been told the Joey Porter extension will be done sooner rather than later. He'll make Herbig's money look like coins under the couch pillows.
• Mason McCormick, who's moved from right guard to left as part of the mass migration within the offensive line, had a telling response when I asked about this:
Hard to argue the logic. Still, man, that's everyone but Zach Frazier in a different spot. Can't convince me that won't still be an issue through, say September.
• Been so cool to have Greg Macafee with us shooting these sessions. Check his photo gallery and, if you like what you see, leave a kind word.
• On a similar note, that's a useful exclusive from Chris Halicke to report that, even after Herbig's signing, the Steelers have 'zero' intention to trade Highsmith. Gotta know the territory.
• Fifty-four days till Saint Vincent.
• Thanks for reading my football coverage.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits!
We’d love to have you!