By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson announced on Sunday that he is skipping senior season to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft, and it should hardly come as a surprise.

Running backs have a short shelf life in the NFL and Johnson is hot right now after leading the Big Ten in rushing this season.

He gave everything he had to the Iowa football team this season, and now it’s time for Johnson to cash in financially and to prove himself at the highest level.

Selfishly, it would’ve been great if Johnson had returned for his senior season, but there isn’t anything left for him to prove.

His final act as a Hawkeye, which will be etched in everybody’s mind who saw it, will be his scintillating 72-yard touchdown catch in this past Friday’s 13-10 victory over Nebraska in which Johnson made the catch in the backfield and then plowed through and around multiple defenders before reaching the end zone.

What the 6-foot, 225-pound Johnson did on that one single play had NFL running back written all over it.

Johnson is clearly ready to compete at the highest level, and Iowa seems equipped to handle his loss with redshirt freshman Kamari Moulton and sophomore Jaziun Patterson poised to have bigger roles.

Both already have shown that they can be effective as backups to Johnson, and now they’ll have a chance to play more prominent roles, starting with Iowa’s bowl game.

Johnson had shown flashes of greatness in his first two seasons as a Hawkeye, but it all came to together this season under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester.

Johnson was suspended for the first half of the season opener against Illinois State, but instead of fighting the tough love from his teammates and coaches, the Hamilton, Ohio native embraced it and he learned from it.

Johnson became more focused and more disciplined, and that was the first step in his rise to stardom.

Just in this season, Johnson has 20 rushes of 20-plus yards, six 40-plus yard runs and nine touchdown runs of 25-plus yards.

And yet, his most impressive touchdown might be the 72-yard screen pass against Nebraska in what has since proven to be Johnson’s final game as a Hawkeye.

Johnson has repeatedly praised his offensive line and Iowa running back coach Ladell Betts for his success this season.

Betts, in addition to being Iowa’s second all-time leading rusher, also played nine seasons in the NFL and that means a great deal to Johnson.

“He’s been where I want to go,” Johnson said of Betts earlier this season. “He knows what it takes to play at the highest level, and I trust that he will help me get there.”