2025 Dynasty Rookie Early Look: Kaleb Johnson, RB Iowa
The rags to riches story at the running back position in this year’s class comes out of Iowa City this year. After a disappointing sophomore season and an off-season suspension, Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson entered the season as a reserve running back. He went on to break out to the tune of 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns in his junior season. He’s primed to be one of the earliest running backs drafted in a loaded 2025 class.
Recruitment
Kaleb Johnson’s recruiting profile, courtesy of 247Sports.
Johnson was an unheralded running back coming out of Hamilton, OH. He ran for 1,004 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior at Hamilton High School. Those numbers were good enough to earn him first-team all-state honors for that season. He was a team captain and also competed in basketball and track.
A three-star recruit, he was pursued by several power-five schools, including Kentucky, Michigan State, Cal and West Virginia. In the end, he chose to stay in the Midwest and attend the University of Iowa.
Collegiate Career
Johnson’s collegiate stats courtesy of Sports Reference.
Johnson’s collegiate career kicked off in week three of his freshman season, rushing for 103 yards and two touchdowns against Nevada. Playing in a part-time role behind Leshon Williams to start, Johnson took over the lead role before the end of the season. He had his best game of the season in week ten against Purdue, rushing for 200 yards on 22 attempts and a touchdown. He wrapped up a solid freshman season with 777 yards and six touchdowns, rushing for 5.1 YPA.
He entered his sophomore season as the starting running back before missing time with an ankle injury. When he returned, it seemed like he lost a bit of his explosiveness. Down the stretch, he averaged three or fewer YPA in four of the final seven games he played.
Johnson entered the 2024 season serving a half-game suspension. From that point on, he was a dominant runner for the Hawkeyes. He ran for 1,535 yards on 6.4 YPA and 21 touchdowns. He was seventh in the nation in rushing yards and sixth in rushing touchdowns, leading the Big Ten in both categories. 21 rushing touchdowns and 23 total touchdowns are both Iowa single-season records.
In his first two seasons, he only had seven receptions in the passing game. We saw an increase in that role, catching 22 balls for 188 yards in his junior season.
In his junior season, Johnson was a Consensus All-American, First-Team All-Big Ten and the Big Ten Running Back of the Year. He was a finalist for the Doak Walker Award, losing out to Ashton Jeanty. He decided to sit out the Music City Bowl and declare for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Strengths
- Extremely patient running style
- Great size/speed combination
- Explosive runner; third in college football in 15+ yard carries
- Excels in zone running concepts
- Elusiveness and contact balance
- Great 4.42 yards after contact per attempt, ninth in college football
- Improved in passing game in 2024
- School record in single-season rushing touchdowns
- Skinny through holes in the offensive line, physical at the point of the tackle
Weaknesses
- Potential maturity concerns; suspended for the first half of the first game of the 2024 season for breaking team rules
- Played behind a great offensive line in college
- Negative ADoT in every game last season, 19 of his 25 targets were behind the line of scrimmage. The six targets beyond the line of scrimmage had an ADoT of 2.0.
- Only one of his 22 catches was contested in 2024
Draft Value
Mock Draft history for Johnson courtesy of Mock Draft Database
There has been plenty of first-round buzz for Johnson in early NFL Mock Drafts, but his consensus is a second-round pick according to Mock Draft Database. He’s third on their running back big board behind Ashton Jeanty and North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton. Dane Brugler of the Athletic projected Johnson to go to the Chargers with the 25th pick in his first NFL Mock Draft, the second running back off the board.
Over the past three NFL Drafts, Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs are the only running backs who were selected in the first round, back in 2023. It’s certainly gone out of vogue to use that premium pick on this position. With that being said, last year’s rookie running back class was not a good one. Of the four backs selected on day two, none of them made an impact in their rookie years. Tyrone Tracy Jr, Isaac Guerendo, Braelon Allen and Audric Estime flashed at times, but none of them are entering their first off-season as high-end dynasty players. This year should change that, with high-end players available at the position. Nearly every mock draft has Jeanty going in the first round, and many of them have a second runner going in the first as well. Johnson has a good chance to be selected at the end of the first, especially if he impresses at the NFL Combine and in the interviews.
Dynasty Outlook
The DLF Consensus Expert Rookie Rankings have Johnson as the number three rookie overall and the number two running back behind Jeanty. Dan Meylor writes that “Johnson’s vision and balance are elite.” Four of the six expert rankers have Johnson ahead of Hampton as the RB2.
Johnson is a clear tier behind Jeanty, but the battle for RB2 should be a tight one this spring. Right now, the rankings have Johnson over Hampton, Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, but there’s plenty of information to come. NFL decision-makers will want to see how he does in the passing game, as there isn’t much tape of him catching passes with Iowa. But, his speed, size and contact balance should be enough for him to be at least an early day-two pick. For dynasty, landing spot will be important, but he’s well on his way to being a first-round rookie draft pick.
- 2025 Dynasty Rookie Early Look: Kaleb Johnson, RB Iowa - January 9, 2025
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