Arguably, the most scrutinized facet of the Steelers’ performance over the last month has been their rushing attack.
In their preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, they accumulated just 65 yards on 23 attempts. Rookie running back Kaleb Johnson had just 20 yards on eight rushes and has been the subject of scrutiny over the past few weeks.
Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith spoke about the team’s performance on the ground in a 17-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past Saturday, and
offered praise for Johnson:
“He’s anxious,” Smith said. “Everyone wants to have a breakout performance the first time they take the stage. Everyone has different personalities, and guys can overthink things. I just want to see that progress, and certainly that was a step in the right direction, and that’ll be good for him. It was good to see him get going, and that’s why we left him in there. He’s working through that.”
Johnson had a much prettier box score, rushing for 50 yards on 11 attempts, good for an average of 4.5 yards.
Smith mentioned the flow of the game is the reason Johnson didn’t receive any snaps with the first-team offensive line. He also spoke on the run game as a whole, mentioning that it was important for them to hit some explosives in the run game.
“I thought it got going. That was good to see.”
We’ve yet to see presumptive starter Jaylen Warren in preseason action, which should substantially upgrade what has been a lackluster start for the ground game of the black and gold.
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