Arthur Smith's figurative fist probably doesn't resonate the way it once did when pounding the figurative table. He's no longer a head coach, as he was in Atlanta. He's no longer got the same say or even the same sway.
And yet, he's still getting his guy in the NFL Draft.
Yeah, this played out for a second consecutive spring tonight here at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, with the Steelers and their offensive coordinator waiting, waiting, waiting for that guy to fall, fall, fall ... until they could finally select Kaleb Johnson, running back out of Iowa, with their second pick, 83rd overall, in the third round.
A year ago, it was the same scenario with Zach Frazier, who'd bloom into the team's top rookie.
This time ...
"I was worried we wouldn't get him," Smith would say afterward. "I'm so fired up about this."
He should be. It's a heck of a pick from pretty much any perspective, not least of which is straight-up value. Almost all scouting services had Johnson rated as a second-rounder, with NFL.com, rating him at 53rd among all players, Pro Football Focus at 57th, ESPN at 61st, and the New York Times at 44th. And when further weighing that the Steelers didn't have a second-round pick -- sent to the Seahawks for DK Metcalf -- they'd either have to trade up or just do all that aforementioned waiting.
As with Frazier, the only player the Steelers were eyeing until he fell to 51st, the patience paid.
With the following payoff, popcorn sold separately:
He's only 21. He stands 6 feet 1, 224 pounds, a bit bigger than both Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell, his soon-to-be roommates in this building. He isn't seen as having blazing straight-line speed, and his 4.57-second time in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis two months ago -- 19th of the 24 running backs tested there -- might've contributed to his fall, but he's also shown to achieve his top speed in a hurry, an arguably more important trait at his position.
Stylistically and statistically, as he stressed in his conference call here, Johnson would say of the Steelers, "They’re getting a physical running back, and one that loves to go score touchdowns. Just a guy that's ready to work and be determined and ready to give the Steelers his all. Man, that's all."
Except that it's not all.
In starting all 11 games at Iowa in 2024, he did rank sixth among all FBS players with 21 rushing touchdowns, two more through the air. But he also rushed for 1,537 yards on 240 carries, an average of 6.4 yards per carry and 128.1 per game, and he caught 22 passes for 188 yards.
My favorite figure: Because the Hawkeyes relied so heavily on the run, over the entirety of his collegiate career, Johnson faced defenses of eight-plus men in the box 50.4 percent of the time. No other running back in this class did so more than 39 percent of the time.
Wait, no, turns out that's my second-favorite figure. My actual favorite, upon further review: Even though he's got both the bulk and the bullishness to prefer a physical style, he had 28 runs of 15-plus yards in 2024, including 21 of 20-plus yards, six of 40-plus yards and a long of 72.
Which takes me, tidily, back to Smith.
He was asked here whether adding Johnson to Warren and Gainwell will put further emphasis on the run in the Steelers' offense. And I sure didn't foresee the answer that came.
"You know, I get it," he began. "When you have had the privilege of coaching somebody like Derrick Henry and you're trying to play to their strengths and some of the things we did in '22 where we were damn near a service academy the way we ran the ball ... you use what you've got and try to play to their strengths."
That, of course, referred back to his tenure as the Titans' coordinator, when Henry, A.J. Brown, Ryan Tannehill and company were terrors, with most of that damage done on the ground.
"That's not necessarily … we obviously added DK. We want to be an explosive offense. I think balance is the right word. It doesn't mean that every game you're going to be exactly, 'Hey, we're going to be 35 carries, 30 passes.' Whatever way we have to operate to win the game, really, that's the thing we want to be. We want to be more explosive. The years I've had it where you have guys who can rip off explosive runs, that may open more things in the play pass or the keeper game or even the action screens. If you don't have that, then you've got to operate a different way.
Catching on yet?
No problem. Be patient.
"This offense, we've got some returning players, but obviously Kaleb is a new offensive piece we've added along with DK. So we have to get DK the ball, as well. As this thing keeps building, it's ongoing as we add to the roster, but we're just excited about this player and how he fits really overall. I look at him as an explosive weapon."
Still not there yet. It's on the way.
When asked about Iowa's reliance on the run, the Hawkeyes' usage of multiple tight ends, all the outside-zone blocking schemes -- all Smith staples -- he again surprised: "Yeah, I'll pivot. Last year, we didn't run as much true outside zone. That was due to some of the familiarity with some of the players we had. You try to adapt to the strengths of the players. You don't want to be rigid. We ran a lot less outside-zone than I had the previous couple of years."
He won't say why, but I will: Najee Harris either couldn't or wouldn't. Only Warren would. And the resulting mish-mash only served to confuse an already messy offensive line.
"I think Kaleb can do it all," Smith continued. "He ran plenty of gap schemes at Iowa. You can change it up. Again, you don't want to get stale, but he is a really good --- whether you're talking wide-zone or tight-zone -- runner."
Mm-hm. Johnson also comes with the "explosive" credential. Harris never has. Even at Alabama, his brand was the bruise-ability and, within that, the durability. He'd seldom break a big one, and that'd hold true, obviously, in the NFL.
There went the fifth-year option. There went Harris to the Chargers.
And here comes Johnson.
• Anyone wondering what Smith might think about anything quarterback-related will have to wait a while longer. In his first availability in months, he evidently was told by one of Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan or Art Rooney to stick to the script at hand.
"I'm going to keep this about Kaleb," he'd say to the first quarterback-based question. "Trust me, I get it. Here's the thing, I know Coach and Omar, Mr. Rooney, have spoken about the quarterback. We're talking about Kaleb and why we're so excited about Kaleb, and that's kind of where my focus has been. That's my job."
• I know for a fact Smith respects Mason Rudolph and welcomes the opportunity to work with him. I can't know, anymore than anyone else, if that'll matter.
• I'm feeling spoiled through two days. I wanted a big-time addition on the defensive line in the first round, and along came Derrick Harmon. I'd reported for weeks that a running back would be the next priority, and along came Johnson. And next ... yeah, it's time for that quarterback, and it'd be wonderful if it were Will Howard, who just led Ohio State to the NCAA championship and rose up to a fresh level each step of the way. But that's just me.
• I've not heard one millisecond of any TV network's coverage of this draft -- the media room here has one silent monitor that's all but ignored because of the wicked delay -- and that might explain why I couldn't care less why all 32 teams have now proceeded through three rounds without drafting Deion Sanders' kid. I mean, this happens when dozens -- no, hundreds -- of executives, scouts and coaches concur that a player isn't worth a pick in the top 100.
Which Shedeur Sanders isn't. At all. He's got a middling NFL arm, he lacks mobility, and he can't handle pressure into the pocket. Football evaluations. Heavy concept there, I know.
• And if anyone cites anything character-related, good luck citing evidence that any NFL team's truly turned off by such stuff. Read up on the Ravens' third-rounder, Mike Green, for instance, who was booted from both his high school and college teams over separate sexual-assault accusations. And heck, for that matter, read up once more on Cam Sutton, right from the Hillsborough County, Florida, police affidavit. Be sure not to gloss over the section detailing "strangulation."
If a player isn't getting drafted where expected in the NFL, it's because of football.
• One network wanted desperately to craft the next reality-show version of Tim Tebow. It backfired. Embarrassingly so. Egg's all over everyone who fell for it. End story.
• Lest I forget: Condolences to Harmon on the loss of his mom. Unimaginable, considering all circumstances. And congratulations, in the same breath, on fulfilling their common goal for him.
• Thanks for reading my football coverage. One more of these to go.
• Add another good quarterback to the one already in-house.
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THE ASYLUM
Dejan Kovacevic
8:16 pm - 04.25.2025South SideDK: Why Smith's so stoked for a running back
Arthur Smith's figurative fist probably doesn't resonate the way it once did when pounding the figurative table. He's no longer a head coach, as he was in Atlanta. He's no longer got the same say or even the same sway.
And yet, he's still getting his guy in the NFL Draft.
Yeah, this played out for a second consecutive spring tonight here at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, with the Steelers and their offensive coordinator waiting, waiting, waiting for that guy to fall, fall, fall ... until they could finally select Kaleb Johnson, running back out of Iowa, with their second pick, 83rd overall, in the third round.
A year ago, it was the same scenario with Zach Frazier, who'd bloom into the team's top rookie.
This time ...
"I was worried we wouldn't get him," Smith would say afterward. "I'm so fired up about this."
He should be. It's a heck of a pick from pretty much any perspective, not least of which is straight-up value. Almost all scouting services had Johnson rated as a second-rounder, with NFL.com, rating him at 53rd among all players, Pro Football Focus at 57th, ESPN at 61st, and the New York Times at 44th. And when further weighing that the Steelers didn't have a second-round pick -- sent to the Seahawks for DK Metcalf -- they'd either have to trade up or just do all that aforementioned waiting.
As with Frazier, the only player the Steelers were eyeing until he fell to 51st, the patience paid.
With the following payoff, popcorn sold separately:
He's only 21. He stands 6 feet 1, 224 pounds, a bit bigger than both Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell, his soon-to-be roommates in this building. He isn't seen as having blazing straight-line speed, and his 4.57-second time in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis two months ago -- 19th of the 24 running backs tested there -- might've contributed to his fall, but he's also shown to achieve his top speed in a hurry, an arguably more important trait at his position.
Stylistically and statistically, as he stressed in his conference call here, Johnson would say of the Steelers, "They’re getting a physical running back, and one that loves to go score touchdowns. Just a guy that's ready to work and be determined and ready to give the Steelers his all. Man, that's all."
Except that it's not all.
In starting all 11 games at Iowa in 2024, he did rank sixth among all FBS players with 21 rushing touchdowns, two more through the air. But he also rushed for 1,537 yards on 240 carries, an average of 6.4 yards per carry and 128.1 per game, and he caught 22 passes for 188 yards.
My favorite figure: Because the Hawkeyes relied so heavily on the run, over the entirety of his collegiate career, Johnson faced defenses of eight-plus men in the box 50.4 percent of the time. No other running back in this class did so more than 39 percent of the time.
Wait, no, turns out that's my second-favorite figure. My actual favorite, upon further review: Even though he's got both the bulk and the bullishness to prefer a physical style, he had 28 runs of 15-plus yards in 2024, including 21 of 20-plus yards, six of 40-plus yards and a long of 72.
Which takes me, tidily, back to Smith.
He was asked here whether adding Johnson to Warren and Gainwell will put further emphasis on the run in the Steelers' offense. And I sure didn't foresee the answer that came.
"You know, I get it," he began. "When you have had the privilege of coaching somebody like Derrick Henry and you're trying to play to their strengths and some of the things we did in '22 where we were damn near a service academy the way we ran the ball ... you use what you've got and try to play to their strengths."
That, of course, referred back to his tenure as the Titans' coordinator, when Henry, A.J. Brown, Ryan Tannehill and company were terrors, with most of that damage done on the ground.
"That's not necessarily … we obviously added DK. We want to be an explosive offense. I think balance is the right word. It doesn't mean that every game you're going to be exactly, 'Hey, we're going to be 35 carries, 30 passes.' Whatever way we have to operate to win the game, really, that's the thing we want to be. We want to be more explosive. The years I've had it where you have guys who can rip off explosive runs, that may open more things in the play pass or the keeper game or even the action screens. If you don't have that, then you've got to operate a different way.
Catching on yet?
No problem. Be patient.
"This offense, we've got some returning players, but obviously Kaleb is a new offensive piece we've added along with DK. So we have to get DK the ball, as well. As this thing keeps building, it's ongoing as we add to the roster, but we're just excited about this player and how he fits really overall. I look at him as an explosive weapon."
Still not there yet. It's on the way.
When asked about Iowa's reliance on the run, the Hawkeyes' usage of multiple tight ends, all the outside-zone blocking schemes -- all Smith staples -- he again surprised: "Yeah, I'll pivot. Last year, we didn't run as much true outside zone. That was due to some of the familiarity with some of the players we had. You try to adapt to the strengths of the players. You don't want to be rigid. We ran a lot less outside-zone than I had the previous couple of years."
He won't say why, but I will: Najee Harris either couldn't or wouldn't. Only Warren would. And the resulting mish-mash only served to confuse an already messy offensive line.
"I think Kaleb can do it all," Smith continued. "He ran plenty of gap schemes at Iowa. You can change it up. Again, you don't want to get stale, but he is a really good --- whether you're talking wide-zone or tight-zone -- runner."
Mm-hm. Johnson also comes with the "explosive" credential. Harris never has. Even at Alabama, his brand was the bruise-ability and, within that, the durability. He'd seldom break a big one, and that'd hold true, obviously, in the NFL.
There went the fifth-year option. There went Harris to the Chargers.
And here comes Johnson.
• Anyone wondering what Smith might think about anything quarterback-related will have to wait a while longer. In his first availability in months, he evidently was told by one of Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan or Art Rooney to stick to the script at hand.
"I'm going to keep this about Kaleb," he'd say to the first quarterback-based question. "Trust me, I get it. Here's the thing, I know Coach and Omar, Mr. Rooney, have spoken about the quarterback. We're talking about Kaleb and why we're so excited about Kaleb, and that's kind of where my focus has been. That's my job."
• I know for a fact Smith respects Mason Rudolph and welcomes the opportunity to work with him. I can't know, anymore than anyone else, if that'll matter.
• I'm feeling spoiled through two days. I wanted a big-time addition on the defensive line in the first round, and along came Derrick Harmon. I'd reported for weeks that a running back would be the next priority, and along came Johnson. And next ... yeah, it's time for that quarterback, and it'd be wonderful if it were Will Howard, who just led Ohio State to the NCAA championship and rose up to a fresh level each step of the way. But that's just me.
• I've not heard one millisecond of any TV network's coverage of this draft -- the media room here has one silent monitor that's all but ignored because of the wicked delay -- and that might explain why I couldn't care less why all 32 teams have now proceeded through three rounds without drafting Deion Sanders' kid. I mean, this happens when dozens -- no, hundreds -- of executives, scouts and coaches concur that a player isn't worth a pick in the top 100.
Which Shedeur Sanders isn't. At all. He's got a middling NFL arm, he lacks mobility, and he can't handle pressure into the pocket. Football evaluations. Heavy concept there, I know.
• And if anyone cites anything character-related, good luck citing evidence that any NFL team's truly turned off by such stuff. Read up on the Ravens' third-rounder, Mike Green, for instance, who was booted from both his high school and college teams over separate sexual-assault accusations. And heck, for that matter, read up once more on Cam Sutton, right from the Hillsborough County, Florida, police affidavit. Be sure not to gloss over the section detailing "strangulation."
If a player isn't getting drafted where expected in the NFL, it's because of football.
• One network wanted desperately to craft the next reality-show version of Tim Tebow. It backfired. Embarrassingly so. Egg's all over everyone who fell for it. End story.
• Lest I forget: Condolences to Harmon on the loss of his mom. Unimaginable, considering all circumstances. And congratulations, in the same breath, on fulfilling their common goal for him.
• Thanks for reading my football coverage. One more of these to go.
• Add another good quarterback to the one already in-house.
Want to participate in our comments?
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Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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