One play that shows the potential of Steelers running back Kaleb Johnson

On Pittsburgh’s opening drive of the pre-season Saturday night in Jacksonville, they faced a 3rd-and-4 from the Jaguars 27-yard-line. Most teams throw the football in that down-and-distance, but the Steelers motioned receiver Ben Skowronek into the box as an extra blocker and ran Duo, which is one of the most popular short-yardage run concepts in the NFL.

On Duo, linemen block their playside gap across the board. There are often multiple double teams, depending on the shades of the defensive linemen. The running back hits the play downhill, aiming for the B-gap, with his eyes on the playside linebacker. If the backer works over top of the near double, the running back stays on his track. If the backer plugs the B-gap, the back bounces to the edge:

The key to making Duo work in short yardage, besides obvious things like preventing penetration and staying on blocks, is the back’s ability to read the cut. If he can stay inside, great. That generally means there’s been movement on the double, and there is space to bang the ball inside. If not, and he bounces wide, he generally runs into a problem he must solve himself.

It’s no secret that defensive backs in the NFL get paid to cover receivers. Few make their money primarily on their tackling ability. In recognition of this, the Duo concept ignores cornerbacks in its blocking scheme. Running backs are given a “BYOB” rule — Be Your Own Blocker — should they bounce the ball wide. That means they must go one-on-one with the unblocked corner and win that encounter to run through a tackle or make enough yardage to earn a first down.

Whether a back can be relied upon to do this consistently determines how well a team can run Duo. If the back can win those one-on-ones, Duo is a great play, particularly in short yardage. The double-teams create running lanes, and if the linebackers take them away, the back can run through the unblocked corner to make the necessary yardage. If a back can’t do this, Duo won’t be successful.

Which brings us to Kaleb Johnson. Johnson’s first opportunity to pass the Duo test, so to speak, came on that 3rd-and-4 play against Jacksonville. The Steelers drafted Johnson in large part because he’s a great fit for Arthur Smith’s zone run scheme. But at 6’1-225, he’s also big enough to be a power back. Because of the formation the Steelers used to run Duo against Jacksonville, the unblocked defender was a nickel corner rather than a true outside corner. Nickel corners play closer to the ball and have to be better tacklers as a result. Running through one here, particularly on 3rd-and-4, where the yardage needed to gain a first down was longer than in most so-called “short yardage” situations, would be challenging.

Johnson passed the test with flying colors.

I’ve broken down Johnson’s run in the short Twitter video below. There’s nothing spectacular here. But that’s the point, in a way. Johnson was tasked with lowering his shoulders and running through contact to pick up valuable yards to keep a drive going, and that’s exactly what he did. There was no finesse here, no pitter-pattering of his feet as he looked for a hole. The defensive front pinched and the playside linebacker filled aggressively in the A-gap. Johnson read it immediately, made a slight cut to his right to work off the hip of Skowronek, who was washing down the edge, and ran through the arm tackle of the nickel defender. He bounced off a blocker, then fell across the 23-yard line to pick up the first down. Two plays later, quarterback Mason Rudolph found Darnell Washington for a touchdown, and the Steelers had their first points of the pre-season.

1st drive of the pre-season and I'm already excited about Steelers rookie RB Kaleb Johnson. Here's why ⬇️: @FFSNSteelCity pic.twitter.com/rzhL712ibY

— Kevin Smith (@KTSmithFFSN) August 10, 2025

Johnson didn’t find a ton of room to run on Saturday night, garnering just 20 yards on eight carries. He also dropped a pass on a catchable throw from Rudolph. He’s a rookie, and will need plenty of reps to elevate his game. But on that 3rd-and-4 snap on the opening drive, he displayed a combination of vision, power and football IQ that makes him an exciting prospect at running back, and provides hope the Steelers can be an efficient third-down run team.

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