On the heels of the NFL season, the Steelers and Jaylen Warren reach a 2-year agreement with $12 million guaranteed.
The Steelers and running back Jaylen Warren have agreed to a 2-year deal that will pay Warren $7 million with $12 million guaranteed. Warren is the veteran in the backfield. The team added Kaleb Johnon in the 2025 NFL Draft in round 3.
With Najee Harris leaving via free agency to the Los Angeles Chargers, there is opportunity for Warren to be the lead back. While most believe Kaleb Johnson will take the Harris role, Warren can provide plenty of pop out of the backfield. Warren was 13th in yards per touch in 2024 with 5.2 and 6th in yards per route run at 2.50. Warren is a year removed from posting 61 receptions.
While this is a nice deal for Warren, it shouldn’t dissuade fantasy gamers from acquiring or drafting Kaleb Johnson. Warren ranked 46th for opportunity share in 2024 and is an undersized back at 5’8’’ and 207 pounds. Take this news as a chance to trade for Kaleb Johnson.
Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kaleb Johnson has seen a ...
Pittsburgh Steelers rookie running back Kaleb Johnson was ...
Pittsburgh Steelers rookie running back Kaleb Johnson ...
The Steelers get a tremendous value pick in round 3 with running back Kaleb Johnson.
Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson is heading to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The rookie running back lands in a perfect spot for fantasy football in the bruising AFC North.
Kaleb Johnson was a consensus top-5 running back up until his NFL Combine showing.His 4.57 40-yard dash and 102.7, 74th percentile speed score caused him to drop down in rankings. As a junior, Johnson rushed for 1,537 yards and had 23 total touchdowns.
Expect Johnson’s stock to rise in rookie drafts. While the first round may be filled, expect Johnson to fill into the early part of the 2nd round in dynasty rookie drafts. With a great landing spot, find a way to buy into Kaleb Johnson in 2025.
Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)
30% of Pittsburgh Steelers pre-draft visits have been with running backs, with just a few day to go until draft night. Not a good sign for Jaylen Warren’s outlook as a featured back this season.
Jaylen Warren has put together impressive spot performances for Pittsburg, especially for an undrafted free agent walk-on. It’s easy to be captivated by efficiency metrics such as his 5.2 yards per touch (#13 last year), or 4.17 yards created per touch (#9 LY) and project those into a monster season post Najee Harris departure. However, reading the tea leaves and looking at historical data should really temper those expectations.
Pittsburg has hosted 30 pre-draft visits with potential rookies, 9 of those have been running backs. The list of backs include: TreVeyon Henderson, RJ Harvey, Ollie Gordon II, Omarion Hampton, Bhayshul Tuten, Kaleb Johnson and Dylan Sampson. Thinking critically through this list, any of those backs could supplant Warren and keep him in a secondary role. Add to this Coach Tomlins propensity to feed his primary back when he has a stud on his hands, and the frequency of which NFL teams have completely abandoned UDFA running backs even after productive seasons – Jalen Warren should be a stay away in Dynasty at this point in the process.
Author: Lukasz Stec (@Lukasz_FF01)
Kaleb Johnson has a lot of interest from teams during the pre-draft process. It has been confirmed that he has visited with a quarter of the league.
Johnson didn’t blow anyone away during draft process. His combine results were below expectations which left people questioning where he would eventually be drafted.
Apparently it has done nothing to deter potential suitors as he’s had a busy couple of weeks visiting teams. With 8 confirmed.
Namely:
San Fransisco 49ers
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Pittsburgh Steelers
Las Vegas Raiders
New York Giants
Houston Texans
Tennessee Titans
He is also scheduled to meet with The Chicago Bears this week.
Johnson had a breakout final season in 2024 for Iowa compiling 1537 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns. It seems his ability as a bell cow is still highly sought after even if his home run ability is still up for debate at the next level.
Author: Scott Riley
Kaleb Johnson had a top 30 visit with The Bengals Thursday. In an eye opening match-up of player and team.
Kaleb Johnson had a top 30 visit with The Bengals Thursday. In an eye opening match-up of player and team.
While some are fading Johnson pre-draft there seems to be plenty of interest from teams. The only question is what round will he hear his name called? 2nd? 3rd? With the Bengals picking 49th and 81st it will be interesting to see how the teams evaluate him in this RB class brimming with talent
This is a clear sign to Chase Brown fantasy managers that the Cinci RB room is far from stable and selling Chase Brown at value if possible should be considered for the more risk adverse.
The Bengals are the 7th team Johnson has visited with.
The others were:
1.Broncos
2.Giants
3.Raiders
4.Steelers
5.Texans
6. Titans
Author: Scott Riley
Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson had a pair of visits this week, with more to come
On Wednesday and Thursday, Kaleb Johnson had visits with the New York Giants and Cincinnati, respectively, in preparation for the 2025 NFL Draft. The Big Ten Running Back of the Year and consensus All-American will assuredly have more “top-30” visits in the coming week.
The Giants have made it no secret that they are entertaining the idea of a big-ticket running back during the draft as a possible upgrade from starter Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary. New York won’t likely spend their No. 3 overall pick on a running back, but they do pick again at No.34. Projected as an early Day 2 pick, he should still be on the board when the Giants select second in Round 2.
Cincinnati has rapidly become a wildcard in the draft by way of dipping their toes in the pool with visits from TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins (OSU) in addition to welcoming in Johnson on Thursday. The Bengals own the 49th overall pick (coming in Round 2) and Johnson will likely be off the board, barring a trade-up scenario for Cincinnati.
Johnson rushed for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns at Iowa in 2024 alone and has rapidly become a hot name to watch in an already talented draft class. He’s hoping to take his electric running style and stellar pass protection to a starting role in the league.
Author: Sam Schneider (@BuyAndSellYou)
