The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Saturday night, losing 17-14 in their only home game of preseason play. While the Steelers were sloppy throughout game, rookie RB Kaleb Johnson bounced back from an underwhelming debut against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a respectable showing against the Bucs. He carried the ball 11 times for 50 yards while catching one pass for nine yards and returning three kickoffs for 81 yards.
There are a couple of things that stood out from Johnson’s game against the Buccaneers. One takeaway that quickly pops off the screen is his desire to bounce runs to the outside. On this run to the left, Johnson makes a beeline for the sideline, trying to outrun the defense to the corner. However, Johnson has a gap open up between the safety and corner near the end of the run. He could have quickly turned upfield, but he continues his path and get tackled by his ankles for no gain. It’s a tough cut but one that Johnson could’ve made.
However, Johnson showed later in the game his speed to get to the corner and turn a dead play into a positive one for the offense. Take a look at this carry where Johnson runs into a wall up the middle and bounces it to the outside. Stepping out of one ankle tackle before he gets to the sideline, he picks up five yards to cut the distance to the first down in half.
Johnson saw his best success when the offensive line set him up with a wide running lane, as evidenced by his top run of the game for 14 yards. He takes the handoff to his right and sees a big cutback lane to his left thanks to a good cut block by TE Conner Heyward. Running straight up the middle, he angles the defense to pick up additional yardage at the end of the run.
Johnson had a few more successful runs in the contest. The first clip shows a good combo block by the right guard and right tackle, springing Johnson into the second level of the defense where he gets tackled from behind. Had the right tackle peeled off to take the linebacker, Johnson could have had potentially an even bigger run.
Here’s another example of Johnson utilizing a cutback lane while attempting to bounce the run to the outside. Johnson cuts back to his right and sidesteps a defender, angling to the sideline as he jumps out of one ankle tackle before being taken down.
Johnson was known for his physical running style coming out of Iowa, defenses often needing more than one man to bring him down. Throughout his tape, Johnson appears to get tripped up a fair amount, but on this short-yardage situation, he shows off that physical running style. He’s met at the line of scrimmage by the defensive tackle but churn his legs after contact and move the sticks.
In the passing game, Johnson recorded a catch on a scramble drill by QB Skylar Thompson. First jetting out to the flat on the snap, he engages the linebacker as Thompson begins to scramble. Johnson then releases from the block up the field where Thompson is able to get him the football. He turns upfield to pick up a couple extra yards and inch closer to the first down marker.
When it comes to pass protection, Johnson still needs to improve his positioning and spatial awareness. He missed this blitz pickup on the cornerback coming off the edge as he begins to release into a route. Thankfully, Thompson is able to evade the defender and pick up a couple of yards on the broken play.
Kaleb Johnson fared better in his second preseason game compared to his debut, making more happen on the ground both within structure as well as creating for himself. Still, his vision needs to continue to improve in order to see potential cutback lanes rather than attempting to stretch every run to the outside.
He also is pretty raw when it comes to the passing game as a receiver and protector, needing more reps to feel comfortable and look more competent in those areas. That isn’t to say that he doesn’t have the skill set for it, but it’s fair to assume that he and Jaylen Warren will see a healthy spilt to start the season until Johnson can prove to be more reliable in those facets of the game.