Steelers' Jaylen Samuels could be asked to take unprecedented role
Jaylen Samuels interrupted a reporter before he had even gotten halfway through the question. One he knew was coming.
"Have I ever been a true runner?” the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie said Monday. "No. I have never been like a true running back who gets like 20 carries in a game. But if that presents itself, I am ready for whatever. I am down for whatever tasks, and I am ready (to) just go (and) be great at it.”
Nothing is assured, of course, but the Steelers might be all but forced to turn to Samuels to be their featured back by Sunday when they visit the Oakland Raiders. That's Samuels, a tight end/fullback in college whose secondary position would probably be best defined as wide receiver.
But with James Conner suffering a lower-leg contusion during Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Chargers (and slot receiver Ryan Switzer, who sometimes lines up in the backfield, under concussion protocol), it's possible the Steelers will have Samuels atop their running back depth chart for the time being.
Samuels has 12 career NFL carries and averaged fewer than four carries per game over a highly-productive offensive career at N.C. State. But over his four seasons with the Wolfpack in which he scored 47 touchdowns in 50 games, Samuels had more games with one or fewer rushing attempts (12) than games in which he had seven or more rushes (nine).
His career high for carries in college was 12 for a loss to Clemson last November; outside of that game he never had more than nine carries in a game.
As such, if Samuels is called upon to carry a heavy load for the Steelers, Samuels concedes it will be an adjustment.
"It's certain runs where the (ball carrier) needs to hit (the correct hole),” Samuels said, "so just putting the ball in the right spot is the key thing in our run scheme and our run game and how we do things.
"Making the right reads, that's basically the main thing that I need to worry about.”
The only other running back on the Steelers' 53-man roster is veteran Stevan Ridley. Ridley has appeared in just one of the past five games.
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Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.
