Sleeper Kaleb Johnson And More Pittsburgh Steelers Fantasy Football Player Rankings

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ backfield and receiving corps are shaping up to be one of the more intriguing fantasy football puzzles of 2025. From rookie power back Kaleb Johnson’s goal-line upside to Roman Wilson’s blazing speed and Jaylen Warren’s sneaky RB2 potential, there’s plenty of value—and risk—hidden in Pittsburgh’s depth chart.

Sleeper

Kaleb Johnson, Running Back

Johnson is a power runner with size (6’1” and 225 Lbs.). His 40-yard dash time (4.57) was well below that of the best running backs in this year’s draft class. He projects as an early-down runner with minimal value on passing downs. His pass protection isn’t ready to handle a third-down role.

Surprisingly, Johnson is more of a rhythm runner than an inside banger. He runs with patience and vision while having wide holes in college to finish some of his carries with big plays. His style appears confident, and he possesses the tools to excel in short-yardage situations and at the goal line. Over the long field, defenders have a significant edge over him in terms of speed.

Kaleb Johnson has been “inhumane” at Training Camp and a anonymous reporter even had regarded him as a “Walking TD”…

The #Steelers found their RB 🔥 pic.twitter.com/cdR3CIgfKf
— Playoff Football (@playoffootball) August 3, 2025

The Steelers should be a good match for Johnson after losing Najee Harris to free agency in the offseason. Pittsburgh added him in the third round of last year’s draft, with a goal of leading their team in rushing attempts and scoring. Johnson ranks 23rd at running back in mid-August, with a minimum pick of 60 and a maximum of 82 over 24 PPR drafts in the high-stakes market.

Johnson is currently ranked as the RB23 in our 2025 PPR Rankings.

Deep Sleeper

Roman Wilson, Wide Receiver

Wilson is another wideout on the Steelers with sub-4.40 40-yard speed. Pittsburgh added him in the third round of the 2024 Draft. His route running is in the early stages of development. His movements have a winning rhythm, with the wheels to take the top off a defense. Wilson will catch most balls thrown his way, with the ability to make defenders miss in space. Early in his career, his opportunities will be limited due to the minimal chances over the short areas of the field. He’ll struggle against physical defenders, especially when facing press coverage.

Last season, Wilson was only on the field for five plays due to a bad hamstring injury. He caught two passes for 24 yards in the Steelers’ first preseason game while playing with Mason Rudolph at quarterback.

Wilson looks like the second-best wide receiver on the Steelers. He lacks size (5’11” and 185 lbs.), but his overall skill set projects well over the second and third levels of defenses. His lack of an NFL resume pushes Wilson into the free agent pool at the start of 2025, as the fantasy market waits to see him in game action.

Wilson is currently ranked as the WR92 in our 2025 PPR Rankings.

Value

Jaylen Warren, Running Back

The addition of Kaleb Johnson led to Warren getting drafted more than two rounds lower than the Steelers’ incoming rookie running back in mid-August. His pass-catching profile should rise under Aaron Rodgers, and Warren has already gained over 1,000 combined yards once in his career (1,154 yards with four touchdowns and 61 catches on 210 touches).

Warren has a reasonable floor in many weeks to his ability to catch the ball, but Pittsburgh won’t give him many goal-line chances if Johnson performs as expected. He draws a mid-tier RB3 rating in early drafts. Game flow and score will dictate his opportunity each week. His edge in pass projection ensures plenty of passing down snaps. This key for him to offer starting RB2 value is securing close to 14 touches a game (only 12.3 in 2023 and 10.5 in 2024) and picking up more touchdowns.

I view him as a cheat RB2 with upside for team builds with strength at wide receiver.

Warren is currently ranked as the RB32 in our 2025 PPR Rankings.

Read our full 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers Fantasy Football Team Preview.