Kaleb Johnson cracks ESPN’s midseason top 25 college football player rankings

Kaleb Johnson is a household name.

Few surprises have been bigger for the Iowa Hawkeyes this year than the emergence and dominance on display from junior running back Kaleb Johnson.

He has taken himself from part of the Hawkeyes’ running back rotation and entered the conversation of the elite backs in all of college football. He has always had the physical traits and this year he is showing the full-on ability.

With a dominant start to the year approaching 1,000 rushing yards through six games, Johnson’s performance has landed him among ESPN’s top 25 college football players at the midseason point.

19. Kaleb Johnson

RB, Iowa, Junior
Notable 2024 stats: 937 yards, 12 TD, avg 7.9 yards
Preseason ranking: NR

The Hawkeyes entered the season with optimism about their run game, but Johnson, who had a breakout season as a freshman in 2022, was third on the depth chart behind Kamari Moulton and Leshon Williams, last year’s rushing leader. But Johnson immediately emerged as not only Iowa’s RB1, but one of the nation’s best. He had 685 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in the team’s first four games, and he has 937 for the season. Johnson has at least 166 rushing yards in four of five games against FBS opponents and rushing touchdowns in every contest. Although Johnson trails Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty in rushing average by 51.8 yards, he’s also 20.4 yards ahead of the No. 3 rusher. — Rittenberg

What has been impressive about Johnson’s performance is that he is doing this against teams who know he is going to get the ball and yet, they still can’t slow him down.

While Johnson can run the ball, he is becoming a presence in Iowa’s passing game as well. Through his first two years with Iowa, he had just seven receptions. He has 12 this year and a receiving touchdown to boot.

Kaleb Johnson is averaging 156.17 rushing yards per game against teams who know it’s coming and even still, he somehow wows everyone each week.

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