Steelers' Mike McCarthy Gives Out A Big Challenge To Kaleb Johnson

The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping to see a ton of offensive growth from new head coach, Mike McCarthy. That side of the ball has not been consistently good for almost a decade now, and they need all the help they can get on that front. They have also been unable to properly develop a starting quarterback since Bill Cowher's final years with the team. Pittsburgh is desperate for any sign that it can move forward with a quality young quarterback and an offense that doesn't routinely get stuck in the mud for multiple games. 

During a media scrum at the 2026 Coaches Breakfast, McCarthy spoke about one of his young players who has not come close to performing up to expectation. He issued that young man a challenge so he can truly grow and develop into the great player that he was expected to be coming out of college.

"I understood what happened with him on special teams, but [Kaleb Johnson]'s a young man," McCarthy said. "Look at his draft value. I’m going to challenge [him] to be a three-down player and a special teamer. All of that is part of being a young RB."

Kaleb Johnson had a very rough rookie season. Everyone remembers his kickoff return blunder back in Week 2, and he never got a real chance to recover from that. For the rest of the season, he was relegated to getting a few snaps at the end of games when the contest was already decided. He had a couple of opportunities before garbage time when someone got hurt, but the coaches did not put him out there much in those situations. 

It seems like Johnson may have a chance to rotate in regularly throughout the game in 2026, and not stand on the sidelines hoping to get more touches. Under a new staff, Johnson will likely have a new opportunity to earn their trust, and receive way more playing time than he did in his rookie season.

Later on, McCarthy detailed his mindset for working with Johnson and anyone else that has similar issues, as quoted by Mark Kaboly.

"I am aware of their past experiences, but this is like a Catholic operation – you say three Hail Marys and everybody has a clean slate, and let’s get to work," McCarthy said.

Johnson definitely needs that clean slate to work off of. The Steelers can essentially treat his first season like his redshirt year, and this could be his true rookie campaign, where he can work to earn more snaps and take the chance to grow as a player. Despite being practically penciled in as the RB3, he should hopefully get more touches and more snaps than he did in 2025.

Steelers May Have Trouble Giving Johnson Plenty Of Snaps

Of course, the Steelers already have Jaylen Warren as the starter, and they just signed Rico Dowdle to act as a complement to him, while also getting significant snaps. Barring injury, that will be the one-two punch that McCarthy will want to roll with throughout the season. Johnson may get a few reps here and there, but finding him a quality chance to show off his skill set will be very difficult -- just as it was under Mike Tomlin when the team still had Kenneth Gainwell.

Getting reps on special teams will help. He most likely won't be a return man, but he can still assist as a blocker, or maybe even a tackler for punt and kickoff. Thriving as a specialist is usually a great way to get yourself on the field for offense or defense, as it shows the coaching staff that you're willing to do the dirty work to help the team win.

What do you think about McCarthy's challenge to Johnson? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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