How Eli Heidenreich Makes Steelers Roster Over Kaleb Johnson

It's impossible to ignore the buzz surrounding Pittsburgh Steelers rookie Eli Heidenreich.

As the offseason program concludes, Heidenreich's stock is trending in the right direction heading into training camp next month.

The Pittsburgh native and seventh-round pick out of Navy has stood out with his versatility and toughness as a reliable pass-catcher, leading head coach Mike McCarthy to heap praise about him this past week.

“Eli’s a natural football player. He’s very instinctive, has an excellent skill set,” McCarthy said. “He’s picked up the offense. His position flexibility has been fun. He’s had a tremendous start. I’m very impressed with him.”

With Heidenreich stating that he's more comfortable at running back rather than receiver, he's firmly in the running to earn the No. 3 role at the position behind Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle.

What will he have to do in order to make the 53-man roster over 2025 third-round pick Kaleb Johnson, though?

Jun 9, 2026; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kaleb Johnson (20) participates in drills during Minicamp at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Run Game Isn't Much of a Competition

In terms of their chops as pure runners, Johnson is comfortably ahead of Heidenreich.

He didn't get to show off his skill set often as a rookie while playing behind Warren and Kenneth Gainwell, but Johnson is a bigger back with strong vision and power who can excel in short-yardage situations. He's not the quickest or most fluid athlete in the world, but the former All-American at Iowa has enough traits to make the Steelers believe he could eventually contribute as part of a rotation.

Heidenreich, on the other hand, is not built to run the ball in-between the tackles consistently and never played the role of a traditional running back in Navy's Wing-T offense despite posting 1,157 rushing yards and seven touchdowns during his time with the program.

He can make some noise on jet sweeps or designed touches out of the backfield, but Heidenreich doesn't have the same floor or even ceiling that Johnson has in the running game.

That doesn't mean Heidenreich can't separate himself and prove that he's a more useful offensive piece, however.

Jun 9, 2026; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers running back Eli Heidenreich (29) participates in drills during Minicamp at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Key to Heidenreich Securing Roster Spot Over Johnson

Because Warren and Dowdle are going to garner pretty close to 100 percent of the carries out of the backfield this season, Johnson's advantage over Heidenreich as a runner isn't going to play as big of a role in their position battle. A potential injury could change the tenor of that conversation, but for now that's where the situation stands.

Heidenreich's path towards cracking the 53-man roster over Johnson will come down to two factors: special teams and the passing game.

Fellow rookie Kaden Wetjen is going to earn a vast majority of the return duties, but Heidenreich picked up some experience in that regard on punts in 2024 and also has the tools to make an impact on both the coverage and protection units.

Johnson, on the other hand, provides little to no value on special teams, particularly after his mistake in Week 2 last year that saw him let a kickoff bounce over his head and into the endzone, where the Seattle Seahawks picked it up for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

On the passing game front, Heidenreich finished as Navy's all-time leading receiver with 1,994 yards to go with 16 touchdowns. As a strong-handed target with some solid route-running ability and quickness coupled with his aforementioned versatility, he has a chance to become a real weapon in McCarthy's offense.

Johnson simply has never really shown much to get excited about in that aspect of the game, and that's where Heidenreich could really capitalize on his opportunity alongside his special teams acumen.

Make sure to bookmark Steelers On SI, and find our podcast All Steelers Talk on YouTube or anywhere you listen!

Add us as a preferred source on Google