Jaylen Samuels did not have the longest career in the National Football League. A multi-purpose player throughout his college days, Samuels played only four years in the NFL, but with some very memorable moments along the way. 

Samuels played many different positions in his college career with NC State. He played five total positions for NC State; in addition to his running back job, Samuels also took snaps as a fullback, h-back, wide receiver (both outside and slot) and even a few snaps at quarterback. 

Over his four year college career, Samuels recorded 1,851 receiving yards, as well as 1,107 rushing yards. In all, he got in the end zone 47 times in those years, although he did have several more rushing touchdowns as opposed to receiving ones (28 to 19)

Although primarily being viewed as a running back, Samuels was the ultimate versatility player when he declared for the 2018 NFL Draft. He fell to the fifth round of the draft, where he was ultimately selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers, 165th overall. 

At the time of his draft, Samuels was joining a team that appeared to be set at running back for years still. Star Le’Veon Bell was still with the team, and even as contract negotiations between Bell and the Steelers had gotten rather tense, everyone at the time had still believed Bell would still eventually sign with Pittsburgh, whether it be the franchise tag or a hammered out long term deal. 

However, the relationship between Bell and the Steelers would slowly fall apart, and Bell would skip all of training camp, while openly refusing to sign the franchise tag the Steelers had placed on him. 

Suddenly, the running back room had their top guy missing, and that continued into the season as Bell declared himself holding out from Pittsburgh. 

Meanwhile, Samuels made the Steelers’ roster, and after no play in Weeks 1 and 2, finally was active for Week 3 and beyond. However, it would take him weeks to get his first chance with the ball. 

Even with the absence of Bell, the Steelers had turned to James Conner (a 2017 draft pick), and veteran Stevan Ridley to take on the running back duties. Samuels was used just sparingly on the special teams unit, appearing in under 25% of special teams snaps over his first two weeks of action. 

In Week 6, he finally was on the field with the offense, being there for not just one snap with the offense, but two! 

It would take another two weeks (Week 8) for Samuels to finally get his first chance at a rush, against the Cleveland Browns. He ran 4 times in the 33-18 win, gaining 17 total yards. 

His first carries in the NHL could be credited to Stevan Ridley, who in that game against the Browns, fumbled for the first time since 2013. Shortly after, the Steelers turned to Samuels to take on some carries.

He would get around the same number of carries in the following weeks, still waiting for a chance at his big break. But in fairness to the Steelers, they were doing fine as things were. 

James Conner had emerged as the perfect replacement for Bell, who would go on to miss the sign-by date and hold out for the entire season over his contract dispute. 

Conner stepped up and the high-powered Steelers offense hadn’t missed a beat; by Week 11, Pittsburgh was riding high at 7-2-1, and Conner was outperforming every expectation set for him at the start of the season. 

In addition to that, Samuels, while being given very limited opportunities, hadn’t amazed anybody yet: from Weeks 8 to 13, Samuels had just 31 yards in 12 carries, and 54 receiving yards on 7 catches. 

But then, disaster struck: Conner goes down. Injured in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, Conner was diagnosed with an ankle sprain that would keep him out weeks. 

After suffering back to back losses, the Steelers needed to turn the ship back around in a hurry, and there was no better way to do that than with a matchup with the 2-10 Oakland Raiders. 

Samuels’ first career NFL start was a golden opportunity to showcase what he can do, and perhaps make a name for himself in the league. Here was his chance.

The game was a disaster.

A sloppy, uninspired game saw the entire Steelers roster struggle and ultimately lose the game, 24-21. 

The defense allowed the Raiders to take the lead with under two minutes to go. The offense collapsed after quarterback Ben Roethlisberger left the game with a rib injury (he would eventually return), and kicker Chris Boswell missed two field goals (including the game-tying attempt as time expired). 

For Samuels’ part, his inner wide receiver came out in the game, catching for 64 yards on 7 receptions. But his running stats were subpar: 28 yards on 11 carries. 

It wasn’t the type of production neither he nor the Steelers would have been hoping for in a game that desperately, and quite frankly, really should have won. 

But Samuels would get another chance to prove himself. 

Conner was still recovering from the ankle sprain, meaning Samuels would get the start in Week 15, in a pivotal game against the New England Patriots. 

Now at 7-5-1, the Steelers were completely up against the wall when Tom Brady and the Patriots came to town. However, the game would stand as a heroic effort by a galvanized team desperately trying to hang on for a playoff spot. 

And one of the biggest factors in a performance for the ages? Jaylen Samuels. 

Samuels had the best night of his career in his rookie season against New England. He took the running game to a whole new level every time he had the ball. 

Samuels had never had 19 carries at any level of his football career before, but that’s how many he had when he rushed for 142 yards to lead the Steelers to victory. In addition to that, he had 30 receiving yards on 2 catches. 

His totals put him just 4 yards shy of the record for rushing yards by a rookie in one game in Steelers history. 

For a closer look on this particular game, we’ve got you covered. 

The entire league was shocked by Samuel’s dominant performance, but unfortunately, it was not to last. Conner was due to miss one more game, Week 16 against the New Orleans Saints, giving Samuels what would be his last start of the season. 

In a back and forth, shootout type game against the Saints in New Orleans, Samuels could only put up 52 rushing yards and 11 receiving yards in a game the Steelers would lose in heartbreaking fashion, 31-28.

Conner returned for the final game of the season, retaking the starters role and limiting Samuels to just 2 carries all game. 

While the Steelers won, their fate rested in the hands of other teams, and ultimately Pittsburgh would miss the playoffs.

Going into his sophomore season, the Steelers began to explore Samuels’s versatility a bit more. In several games during the 2019 season (which featured the combo of Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges after Ben went down), the Steelers explored using the “Wildcat” form, where Samuels would take a snap in the quarterback position, either running from there or attempting to make a pass. 

The play usually didn’t work, or had mediocre results. 

In Week 4, however, Samuels completed 3 passes for 31 yards in Pittsburgh’s first win of the season over Cincinnati. 

With Conner still firmly cemented as the starter, Samuels didn’t see a ton of snaps with the ball in 2019. In 14 games that season, he averaged just a little under 5 carries per game, with only 2.65 yards per attempt to show for it. 

Yes, he wasn’t getting a ton of carries and chances, but he also wasn’t overperforming with the role he was given. 

Samuels did start in four games for the Steelers in 2019, but oddly enough, his starts featured some of the lowest yards per attempt of his season. Of his 4 starts, 3 of those games saw Samuels have 2.29 yards per attempt or lower. His highest total in a single game all season was just 32 rushing yards. Samuels put up 175 yards on the ground in total. 

He did, however, still have some plays in the receiving game. He had 305 receiving yards in 2019, including a 13 catch, 73 yard game against the Cleveland Browns. 

That 13 catch performance broke a record set by Bell in 2017 for most catches in a game by a running back in Steelers history. The record would once again be broken by a rookie Najee Harris in 2021, who just bested Samuels with 14 catches in Week 3. 

Samuels could never find a way to rekindle his dynamic performance against the Patriots from the season prior at any point during the 2019 season. 

Overall, his 2019 season was not impressive to the coaching staff and front office. 

Samuels would find himself on the reserve/Covid-19 list on a few different occasions during the 2020 season, but ultimately he did still play 14 games for the Steelers. 

Although he was still on the team, he was barely used during the Steelers’ 12-4 season in 2020. He had a whopping 9 attempts all season, with 28 total rushing yards. He caught 9 passes for 46 yards. He was still deployed in a special teams role, but his place on the offense had evaporated. 

Samuels was still stuck behind James Conner (who was in his final year as a Steeler in 2020) and the arrival of guys like Benny Snell Jr. and Anthony McFarland Jr. also ate into any possible carries that Samuels could have got. 

By the time the 2021 season rolled around, the writing was on the wall for Samuels. Even with the departure of Conner, who left for Arizona, Pittsburgh drafted the aforementioned Najee Harris to take his place with their first round pick. 

The Steelers waived Samuels as part of their final wave of preseason cuts and re-signed him to the practice squad soon after. However, by this pont, he had already played his last game for the Steelers. 

They outright released him in late October of 2021, and two days after his release, he was picked up by the Houston Texans. 

In Houston, he appeared in just 3 games to close out the season. Primarily a special teams player for the Texans, Samuels had just 9 total carries as a Texan before he wasn’t brought back for the 2022 campaign. 

The Arizona Cardinals signed Samuels to a reserve/future contract, but he was released in May, which to date is his last time spent with any NFL organization. 

Over the course of his career, Samuels was a flash in the pan kind of player. He had big moments, but they were too far and in between to really be able to make a name for himself in the NFL. 

His versatility was unique, and his ability to catch coming out of the backfield did help the Steelers out on several occasions, but his running game never had that kind of consistent presence. 

Here in Pittsburgh, he will always be remembered for his performance against New England, earning him the “Patriot Killer” moniker by some Steelers fans.

(Featured photo from steelers.com)