Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson declares for 2025 NFL Draft

IOWA CITY — Iowa star running back Kaleb Johnson has declared for the 2025 NFL Draft, he announced Sunday evening on social media, forgoing his final season of college eligibility.

“This decision was not made lightly, but it is with great excitement and anticipation that I embrace the challenges and opportunities ahead,“ Johnson said in the social media post thanking fans, coaches and teammates. ”The foundation I’ve built here at Iowa has prepared me for this moment, and I carry the Hawkeye spirit with me as I move forward.“

Johnson rushed for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns in 12 games this season. He set the program record for single-season rushing touchdowns and finished third in program history in single-season rushing yards. His 128.1 rushing yards per game ranked sixth nationally and first in the Big Ten.

“Kaleb is a quality guy who wants to be a really good football player, and he has demonstrated that week in and week out,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said after Friday’s regular-season finale. “His consistency and performance has been great. ... Any ups and downs that we may have gone through, it's been worth it because it's just so fun to see him be confident and act like a football player, a real football player.”

Johnson showed flashes of brilliance earlier in his career, including when he rushed for 200 yards against Purdue in 2022 as a true freshman. He had more rushing yards and touchdowns in 2024, though, than in 2022 and 2023 combined.

Johnson’s announcement comes two days after Iowa’s regular-season finale against Nebraska and a week before the Hawkeyes officially learn their bowl destination.

He did not specifically address whether he plans to opt out of the bowl game in his statement on Sunday, but he told Big Ten Network on Tuesday that the "main two things" that he's focused on are recovery/combine preparations and finishing school.

Sunday’s news is not a surprise, as Johnson has been projected to be one of the top running backs in this year’s draft class. Pro Football Focus rates him as the 29th-best overall prospect and third-best running back in the 2025 draft. ESPN’s Field Yates recently ranked him as the second-best running back in the draft, trailing only Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty.

"Thank you for shaping me, supporting me and believing in me,“ Johnson said in the social media post. ”Iowa will always be home, and I will forever be a Hawkeye."

Johnson will look to be the first Iowa running back drafted since the New York Jets drafted Shonn Greene in 2009 with a third-round pick. (The only other Hawkeye running back drafted in the Kirk Ferentz era was Ladell Betts, who now coaches the position at Iowa.)

With Johnson departing, Kamari Moulton and Jaziun Patterson are expected to be Iowa’s top options at running back in 2025. Moulton, a redshirt freshman, has 377 rushing yards this season while averaging 5.4 yards per carry. Patterson, a sophomore, has 235 yards while averaging 4.4 yards per carry.

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