Jaylen Samuels Will Still be a Swiss Army Knife in Pittsburgh

When former NC State great Jaylen Samuels was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2018 NFL Draft, on paper, he was drafted as a running back.

But don’t get it twisted.

Jay Sam will still be a Swiss Army Knife up in Pittsburgh.

“That’s why they drafted me,” Samuels said Thursday at the conclusion of the Steelers final OTA practice of 2018, according to 93.7 The Fan. “When they drafted me, they told me that they was going to be doing a lot of different things with me like N.C. State was. They’re not going to pigeonhole me to just doing one thing like running the ball. So, that’s what I’m doing now. They got me playing in the slot, playing the F position, being able to move around, motion around, catch passes out of the backfield, out of the slot. So, I’m just going to keep working at it, learning the playbook as I go and just get more comfortable.” (Link)

When asked on the challenge of learning the playbook for numerous positions, he said the challenge is nothing new to him.

“Well, I just try to learn from it as concepts,” Samuels said. “If I learn it as concepts, then I learn what everybody else is doing and it makes it easier for my job. That’s kinda what I did in college because they had me playing all over the field. So, I learned it as a concept and not as one position. Whenever somebody goes down and they need me out there, I can hop in and play as fast as the person before me was. So, just show that versatility, being able to catch and run the ball as well.” (Link)

It won’t take long for the rest of the NFL to realize that the Steelers got a steal in Samuels in the 5th round.