After a special teams gaffe that ended up costing the Pittsburgh Steelers a game, by rookie running back Kaleb Johnson, the third rounder is self-reflecting.
It’s been a rough go for Johnson since he’s been drafted in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
The calling card on Johnson was that he’s a cerebral running back with a tremendous amount of patience by surveying the field.
During Week 2, perhaps the youngster showed a little too much patience.
The Seattle Seahawks had just taken the lead of the game with a field goal and kicked it off to the Steelers. With the new “kickoff landing zone” rules in the NFL, Seattle decided to lighten up on the kick, kick the ball toward the left near the sidelines and let the rookie handle it.
Johnson, who has been the appointed return man, let the ball bounce in front of him as it jumped over his 6-foot-1 frame but grazing him.
Right then and there, is when Johnson should’ve turned around and went after the ball. Instead, he continued to move forward, potentially assuming that the ball went out of bounds for it to be a touchback.
Seattle saw that the ball stopped in the opponents endzone, and George Holani recovered it for the touchdown.
It was the dagger to the game way before it was even over.
Coach Mike Tomlin just addressed it simply as follows: "It's poor judgment by a young player,” adding that they work on kickoffs “every day of their lives.”
Johnson, who was reported to have had a less-than-stellar training camp, is just another target of a mishap.
But the third-rounder accepts accountability and knows that there’s no where else to go but forward.
"I just made a mistake," Johnson said. "Got to stick to it, move on, and just continue to get better every day. I just got to get better every day. That's all. That's all I have to say about this... I just got to just go in there every day now, and just work my hardest, now even more with a chip on my shoulder."
When Pittsburgh drafted him, they were hoping that he can be an every down back like he was for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Last season, he was an All American, rushing for over 1,500 yards and 1,700 scrimmage yards.
The potential is certainly there, but it may take him a year or two to fully get acclimated to the pros.
Regardless, every experience is a learning experience. And while it may feel like he lost the game for his team, you learn from it, and you move on.