Explosive OLB Kyron Johnson Ready for Big Chance with Steelers

PITTSBURGH — Without T.J. Watt, Markus Golden and Nick Herbig will be stepping up. But while they will start, the Steelers rotation at edge rusher is almost always four-deep. But who is the fourth guy in that rotation? Meet Kyron Johnson, who began this season on the Eagles roster but ended up on the team’s practice squad. Johnson earned his way onto the Steelers’ active roster through his active involvement in special teams.

Johnson was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022 and has 16 games of NFL experience, mostly on special teams, which is where he will likely play for the Steelers.

A freak athlete, Johnson ran a 4.4 40-yard dash at his pro day coming out of Kansas. He backed that up with a 39.5-inch vertical jump, showcasing he is both explosive and fast.

His senior year at Kansas was his best, racking 6.5 sacks and 63 tackles. Over his career, he posted 12.5 sacks, 193 tackles, and 22.5 tackles for loss. Kansas embraced Johnson’s versatility but liked him more as an outside linebacker for most of his tenure. When he joined the Eagles last year, Johnson played off-ball outside linebacker in that 4-3  system. But in the 3-4 system, he focused much more on his pass rushing chops.

“I’m almost all in there with speed,” Johnson said. “I’m a smaller guy, so I always try to rely on my speed. The big thing that I’ve learned in here, Coach Denzel has told me, is to work on my hands. I know I have the speed to win, it’s just getting that hand usage down.”

Johnson’s a player who wins with his rip-and-dip and ghost move. He wants to work on an inside move, but that comes with polishing up his hand usage when tackles overset to try and get ahead of him due to his explosiveness and athleticism. But Johnson brings some power to his game, too, despite being undersized. That’s even if he is undersized, Johnson has traits that teams desire, including some electric bend on tape.

“That’s all part of the hand usage,” Johnson said. “I know a lot of tackles sell out for my speed, so I need to keep working on the hand usage. You know, I want to come back inside, and working on that shit is what is going to help my game a lot. I’m learning all of that from guys like T.J., Alex, and MG (Markus Golden).”

Taking it from here, Johnson will likely get only a limited dose of snaps. But he hopes it is enough to showcase something to the rest of the team. He might only get five snaps, but if Herbig has shown anything this season, that’s all it takes to make a big impact.