In what could be a busy day for the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad reshuffling, the team is signing WR Jaray Jenkins to their taxi squad, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
Jenkins spent part of the offseason and summer with the Steelers, waived at final cutdowns. A longshot to make the 53-man roster, Jenkins did well to increase his reps and maximize his opportunity during training camp and the preseason. Separating himself from other receivers low on the depth chart like Duece Watts and Jacob Copeland, Jenkins brought a combination of size and enough athleticism to make plays.
Our training camp evaluation was generally positive, even if Jenkins still had a tough path to stick.
“A forgotten reserve, it felt like even surviving all of training camp would’ve been huge for Jenkins. He accomplished more than that. Jenkins broke away from the bottom of the depth chart to see a tier up in reps and work. With size and decent route running, he made plays over the middle and could produce a little post-catch. He led all players by averaging 16.4 yards per catch.
The volume wasn’t there, and Jenkins was quieter near the end of camp, ending with just nine receptions across 15 team practices. His special teams value is minimal, once looking good in a gunner drill during Friday Night Lights but not seeing action on ‘teams throughout the preseason. There’s practice squad potential and value and Jenkins did well to beat expectations to even enter that conversation.”
While he didn’t initially play on special teams early in the preseason, he finished the summer picking up a handful of reps on four units: kick coverage and return along with punt coverage and return.
After initially losing out to Quez Watkins and outside addition Ben Skowronek on the practice squad, Jaray Jenkins is getting another chance with the Steelers. As Mike Tomlin said during his Tuesday press conference, Skowronek is dealing with a shoulder injury suffered in Sunday’s win over the Denver Broncos. He’s served as a starting gunner the first two weeks of the year.
Initially signed in June, Jenkins went undrafted out of LSU in 2023. He’s also spent time with the Jacksonville Jaguars but has yet to appear in a regular-season game. In college, he caught 89 passes for 1,370 yards and 14 touchdowns for the Tigers.
