Scouting Profile: Kaleb Johnson - RB - Iowa
Sales Pitch: Highly productive zone runner with explosive top end speed. College offense didn’t use him much as a pass catcher but has the physical tools to be a three down back.
*Gold Numbers Indicate NCAA T-25 for 2024*
Scouting Report
Kaleb Johnson is a former 3-Star recruit from the state of Ohio. Of the course of three years with the Hawkeyes he was a consistent producer, starting 22 games and finishing top ten for yards and touchdowns in the programs history. 2024 was his best year to date where he was a Doak Walker Finalist along with receiving All-American and All-Conference honors for logging over 1,500 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns.
Johnson is a bigger back at roughly 6 feet 220+ pounds with good straight-line athleticism. He has long legs that quickly eat up ground in the open field, giving him the top speed to create chunk plays as a runner. Johnson was primarily used on zone concepts at Iowa where he shows excellent vision. He displays the patience to stretch out runs and set up blocks before quickly getting north-south. He wastes little time finding green grass at the 2nd and 3rd levels allowing him to consistently rip off 15+ yard runs. Johnson displays excellent burst through the hole and at the 2nd level once he puts his foot in the ground. His strong upper body allows him to run through arm tackles at his waist and chest in the hole. When he gets his speed up he has the balance and force to run through defenders at the 2nd level for extra yards. His size and leg drive allows him to push piles forward even when he is stood up. Iowa was a run heavy offense that didn’t ask a lot of their backs in the passing game, but Johnson shows natural hands as a receiver, making him a dependable checkdown option. He displays the processing skills and awareness to be a functional pass protector down the line with more reps.
Johnson is a good athlete but like most taller backs he can lacks lateral twitch and quickness. This can limit his ability to operate in gap schemes that require him to quickly turn over his feet. When stuck with muddy looks in traffic or the backfield, he tends to go down rather easy and lacks the creativity to make plays out of nothing. Despite his bigger frame, Johnson doesn’t run with the aggression and toughness you would like to see. He is an upright runner, which allows defenders in short yardage to get underneath him and stop his momentum. Johnson frequently gets tripped up in the hole by tacklers attacking his legs. When defenders can get to him before his speed is up they are able to chop out his legs and stop his momentum. As a result of Iowa’s offense Johnson wasn’t asked to run routes very often, so it is not apart of his game at the moment. He also struggles with technique in pass protection, where he frequently dips his head and scores only glancing blows. His inexperience in pass protection shows up as a passive commitment to blocks, failing to weaponize his size and strength which sets shallow pockets for his QB.
Johnson profiles as a starting RB in a zone run scheme. His straight-line speed and burst combined with his vision makes him an instant candidate to start. While his 3rd down impact is still far away he has the traits to be a 3-down starter in the future. Johnson projects as an early Day-2 pick who should start immediately as an early down workhorse in a zone running scheme.