It’s been a difficult first few weeks in the NFL for former Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson.

After an outstanding junior season with the Hawkeyes, where he was named an All-American, Johnson was taken in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. With longtime running back Najee Harris off to Los Angeles, it seemed like Johnson would get some significant offensive playing time, splitting reps with Jaylen Warren.

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That hasn’t been the case so far, as the Steelers have opted to use veteran Kenneth Gainwell as that backup running back to Warren, leaving sparse carries for Johnson. Across the first two games of the regular season, Johnson has just two carries for negative one yard, running behind a struggling offensive line. But the coaching staff in Pittsburgh has tried to get him involved in a different aspect of the game: returning kick-offs.

Johnson hasn’t shown much explosiveness in the kick-off return game, with a long of just 29 yards. His 23.8 yards per return is 31st among qualified return men so far this season. And on Sunday, in the Steelers‘ 31-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Johnson made a mistake on special teams that might have him glued to the bench for a long time.

With the Steelers trailing 17-14, the Seahawks were kicking the ball back to Pittsburgh with 12:46 to play in the fourth quarter. They kicked it Johnson’s direction, who saw it bounce in front of him at the five-yard line and roll into the end zone. Johnson walked off the field instead of recovering the ball, and Seahawks special teamer George Holani dove on the ball, resulting in a Seattle touchdown and a ten-point deficit for Pittsburgh.

The Steelers went on to lose the game, and Johnson was on the receiving end of a lot of criticism from fans. While it’s fair to criticize Johnson, who has to know the rules in that situation, I think more of the blame should fall on the coaching staff.

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At Iowa, Johnson only returned 15 kicks in his career, with 13 of those returns coming in his freshman season. So why is he out there returning NFL kicks? The Steelers have more experienced return men like Warren, Gainwell, and Calvin Austin III. Putting Johnson out there as a rookie with barely any return experience in college is coaching malpractice and should be the main thing fans are mad at.

Regardless of who’s to blame for Johnson’s gaffe, it hasn’t been a stellar start to his NFL career. And with a fumble on the kick-off last week and this blunder, it’s fair to question how many more opportunities Johnson will get in 2025. Hopefully, he gets a chance to make amends soon and tries to get back to the player he was at Iowa.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Former Iowa football RB on wrong end of NFL special teams blunder