Mike Tomlin has vowed numerous times to “Leave no loose stone unturned” in his effort to improve whatever ails the Pittsburgh Steelers. The aftermath of Steelers decision to cut Shuan Suisham’s illustrates just how serious Tomlin takes his own words.

• To fill Shaun Suisham’s spot, the Steelers signed Penn State’s Brandon Johnson, he of 4 carries to his NCAA rushing resume.

One of Brandon Johnson’s four carries while @ Penn State; Photo Credit: Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

One benefit to such late roster moves is Steelers Nation REALLY knows who is the 90th man on the roster. The Steelers invited Brandon Johnson to their rookie tryout camp, and while the Steelers cut Rajion Neal and Christian Powell, they replaced them with Cameron Stingily and Brandon Brown-Dukes leaving Brandon Johnson on the outside looking in.

• Now Brandon Johnson has a shot at his NFL dream, however slim it might be.

When one things of unheralded, rookie free agent running backs names like Willie Parker or Gary Russell come to mind (even if Russell didn’t come to the Steelers as a true UDFA.) When Willie Parker proved he belong in the NFL, fans wondered why he didn’t play more for the North Carolina Tar Heels. But Parker logged 285 carries at Chapel Hill. Gary Russell only played two years in college, but the Minnesota Gophers trusted him enough to put the ball in his hands 210 times.

• In contrast, Brandon Johnson got carries in two games, and turned his 4 carries into 23 yards.

The website Go PSU Sports further informs us that the former walk-on Brandon Johnson appeared 19 games total, almost all on special teams. Jacob Klinger of Penn Live reports that his measurable from Penn State’s Pro Day were 4.43 40-yard dash and vertical jumped 39 inches.

• No matter how you look at it, Brandon Johnson’s pedigree is thin.

The fact that Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin filled an unexpected roster vacancy with a running back is no confidence, given the Steelers lack at running back behind Le’Veon Bell, DeAngelo Williams and Fitzgerald Toussaint.

But the Steelers Brandon Johnson signing really does represent a “loose stone turn over signing” much like Donald Washington’s does. (The Steelers signed “veteran cornerback Donald Washington, who has been out of the NFL since 2011 and only played a handful of snaps in the CFL since then.)

Past Steelers Running Backs from Penn State

It says here if Brandon Johnson gets a couple of carries late in the 4th quarter of the Steelers first preseason game, he will have beaten the odds. Still the fact that he has a pre-training camp roster spot means that Bradon Johnson has a chance of being the first Nittany Lion running back to play for the Steelers since fullback Jon Witman made the team in 1996.

Witman was preceded by Leroy Thompson, who was drafted by Chuck Noll in 1991. And of course Thompson followed in the footsteps of two other Penn State greats, Franco Harris and Dick Hoak.

• Judged by yards gained, the fortunes of Penn State running backs with the Steelers are on a downward trend…

Don’t expect Brandon Johnson to break the trend, but Todd Haley and James Saxon will give this latest loose stone a fair shot at trying.

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