I’m sure nobody expected Jaylen Samuels to be starting any games at running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers when they drafted him in the fifth round back in the spring—least of all himself. At the time they still had Le’Veon Bell as a potentiality, and James Conner was ready to be the number two back. There was still Fitzgerald Toussaint and Stevan Ridley.
Well, Bell never showed, Toussaint didn’t make the team, and he passed Ridley on the depth chart. With Conner suffering an ankle sprain, the team turned to Samuels, and while Head Coach Mike Tomlin questioned the notion that he was “confident” in the rookie heading into the past two games, the team stuck with him all the same.