We got to see quite a bit of Pittsburgh Steelers rookie running back Jaylen Samuels during the team’s second preseason game this past Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers as this year’s fifth-round selection out of North Carolina State not only played 41 offensive snaps, he also touched the football 12 times for a total of 51 yards and scored once from a yard out.
While Samuels’ 4.25 yards per touch probably isn’t high enough to get fans excited when they look at that stat in a gamebook, if you closely examine the tape of all 12 of his touches from that contest you’ll see that he did quite a few things good during those dozen opportunities.
For starters, I think you might like to know that Samuels registered 37 yards Thursday night after first contact was made with him. Now, not all 37 of those yards came past the original line of scrimmage and that’s an important stat worth noting. Additionally, Samuels also registered 24 yards after the catch on his three receptions in the game. Once again, not all of those yards came past the original line of scrimmage.
Below are a few gif examples of Samuels doing a great job of getting yardage after first contact. Two of these plays are after short receptions while the other is a run attempt in which contact was made with him initially in the backfield.
In addition to those positives that Samuels put on tape Thursday night at Lambeau Field, he also received one solid pass protection rep in the second half as well and below is a gif of that.
While what Samuels put on tape Thursday night against the Packers certainly won’t be enough to guarantee him a spot on the 53-man roster at this point of the preseason, the arrow certainly is currently pointing in the right direction for him entering the team’s third exhibition game.
While Samuels might receive some playing time against the Tennessee Titans next Saturday night at Heinz Field, it might not ultimately be as much as he received against the Packers. However, Samuels should get plenty of snaps in the Steelers preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers.
It should be noted that Samuels also played 14 special teams Thursday night against the Packers. However, I really didn’t see him make much of an impact in that phase and especially during the 7 kickoff returns he was a part of.
6 of Samuels’ 12 total touches Thursday night registered as successful plays.
Contextualization of Samuels’ Touches Against Packers
| QRT | DWN | DIST | SIDE | LOS | RES | DIR | YDS | PDIST | YACa | YACo | SUCC | PLAY DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 21 | PIT | 28 | C | SR | 4 | -5 | 9 | 7 | No | (5:57) (SG) M.Rudolph pass short right to J.Samuels for 4 yards |
| 3 | 1 | 10 | PIT | 14 | R | LT | 0 | N/A | N/A | 0 | No | (12:36) J.Samuels left tackle for no gain |
| 3 | 1 | 10 | GB | 25 | R | LE | 6 | N/A | N/A | 9 | Yes | (11:19) J.Samuels left end for 6 yards |
| 3 | 1 | 10 | PIT | 26 | C | SIL | 4 | -3 | 7 | 7 | No | (9:29) (SG) J.Dobbs pass short left to J.Samuels for 4 yards |
| 3 | 2 | 6 | PIT | 30 | C | SM | 5 | -3 | 8 | 2 | Yes | (8:50) (SG) J.Dobbs pass short middle to J.Samuels for 5 yards |
| 3 | 1 | 10 | GB | 14 | R | M | 4 | N/A | N/A | 2 | No | (3:07) J.Samuels up the middle for 4 yards |
| 3 | 2 | 6 | GB | 10 | R | LG | 3 | N/A | N/A | 3 | No | (2:31) J.Samuels left guard for 3 yards |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | GB | 2 | R | M | 1 | N/A | N/A | 2 | Yes | (1:12) J.Samuels up the middle for 1 yard |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | GB | 1 | R | M | 1 | N/A | N/A | 1 | Yes | (:38) J.Samuels up the middle for 1 yard, TD |
| 4 | 1 | 10 | PIT | 34 | R | M | 15 | N/A | N/A | 2 | Yes | (1:03) J.Samuels up the middle for 15 yards |
| 4 | 1 | 10 | PIT | 49 | R | RT | 1 | N/A | N/A | 0 | No | (:36) J.Samuels right tackle for 1 yard |
| 4 | 2 | 9 | MID | 50 | R | RE | 7 | N/A | N/A | 2 | Yes | (:05) J.Samuels right end for 7 yards |
