NFL Analysis
10/28/24
6 min read
Kaleb Johnson 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Iowa Hawkeyes RB
Height: 6000 (unofficial)
Weight: 225 (unofficial)
Year: Junior
Pro Comparison: Stevan Ridley
Scouting Overview
Iowa RB Kaleb Johnson is a savvy zone runner with the instincts and vision of an impactful NFL starter at the next level. Johnson is smooth for a back of bigger stature and illustrates the necessary slipperiness off of contact to add extra value to his touches outside of what is blocked.
The decisiveness in his cuts should allow him to minimize negative runs and help with the precision of bursting through lanes at the point of attack and bounding into space. Johnson's passing down profile should sufficiently meet all needs for developing into a primary ball carrier at the NFL level as well, making him an attractive option on Day 2 as a potential early starter with room to grow.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Showcases elite vision and anticipation of setting up second-level defenders in zone concepts
- Slippery contact balance to use loose frame to deaden his body off contact and absorb glancing blows while maintaining momentum
- Patient runner that processes creases vs. bubbles accordingly and attacks for available yardage first
Negatives
- Sufficient pass protector who offers good vision and eagerness to close angles — but execution at first contact is a work in progress
- Modest passing game profile as a receiver who isn’t asked to do a lot other than RB screens and swings
- Appears to have only modest open-field explosiveness to break second-level angles
Background
Kaleb Johnson grew up in Hamilton, OH, and played high school football at Hamilton, HS. While also competing in track and basketball, Johnson’s successes on the gridiron quickly pushed him down the path to college football.
A three-year letterman and two-year captain, Johnson earned First-Team All-State as a senior en route to a 3-star recruiting ranking (247 Sports). In addition to Iowa, Johnson drew interest and offers from programs such as West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Kentucky, Iowa State, and Cal.
As a true freshman in 2022, Johnson started six games for the Hawkeyes while setting a freshman record for rushing yards with 779. He also returned kickoffs during that season, offering contributions on special teams in addition to his key role on offense. Johnson would go on to start five of 10 games played in 2023, missing three games due to a high ankle sprain suffered against Iowa State.
He returned fully healthy with a vengeance in 2024, becoming one of the most productive running backs in the country behind Iowa’s physical offensive line.
Tale Of The Tape
Johnson offers many appealing qualities to the next level that should afford him opportunities to be a starter. The Iowa run scheme is well established under Kirk Ferentz, and the whole zone rushing operation runs smoothly, grooming Johnson for a potentially similar role in the NFL.
He runs hard and with the necessary urgency to press the line of scrimmage. This isn’t a runner who gets picky with his reads and tries to do more than what is in the design of the run. The result is a thing of beauty for zone-rushing aficionados.
Johnson’s eyes are disciplined out of the mesh point, and he’s quick to process if the primary gap is open when he presses the line of scrimmage. His cadence and tempo in the backfield, as he scans through his gaps, are effectively smooth — this isn’t a player to skip over gaps hastily or jump out of his track prematurely without allowing the blocks to set up.
When he has a crease and needs to cut, you see an acceleration to attack the gap, and his feet flip into a new gear to get himself redirected. Johnson doesn’t have the most dynamic lower half, and as a result, his hard cuts lose some of their burst and explosiveness, but he makes up for that with his vision and feel for the front.
In the hole, Johnson showcases really nifty work addressing lateral contact. He’s less of a violent pinball-absorbing contact and more of a shock absorber. He negates contact with his own limbs and body, offsetting the potential knockback impact from defenders. But Johnson does so in a way that allows him to keep his momentum directed on his path upfield.
As a result, he can consistently play through contact for added yardage on the second level. He’s big enough to challenge some ball carriers head-on, but he’s largely at his best bracing for and diminishing contact blows.
I wish that he had another gear in the open field. He’s got good acceleration through the line of scrimmage, but when he hits space or the edge, more often than not, his extended run opportunities saw defensive backs hawk down his angles, and he was forced to try to put a move on downfield to recreate a path to the end zone. He’ll run plenty well, and some of his converted runs for scores on big gains came up the middle.
This is one of those areas in which his size and stature do show up. Johnson runs with good forward lean through the box, and he can drop his pads as necessary, but the linear burst and lateral cut angles of his base are where a taller frame and heavier mass do cut into his movement skills. You wish he had a little bit more thump in pass protection to go with that stature, too.
Johnson has a good appetite for the contact and did a nice job with some of his scan protection assignments to properly sort out a rusher, but his framing and punch are incomplete and can help offer better results.
As a pass catcher, Johnson has good hands, but his Iowa usage was generally uncreative in the passing game. A handful of run-fake screen passes and swings out of the backfield have been the primary opportunities he’s seen. He should be considered a reliable checkdown and safety outlet.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Johnson will be a terrific fit in a wide-zone-oriented rushing offense. The Shanahan tree should love his blend of size and physicality, slipperiness, vision, and footwork behind the line of scrimmage to press runs and cut off defensive flow.
He should be considered a viable NFL starter from the jump and have the ability to be a three-down workhorse in the right opportunity.
Grade: 76.50/100.00, Third Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD