Trey Edmunds embraces last chance to show he should be a Steelers running back

Thursday will mark the end of the third NFL preseason for Trey Edmunds.

It also will signify the conclusion of another training camp in which his status on cutdown day is in question.

“It’s not my first rodeo,” the Pittsburgh Steelers running back said Tuesday, “so I’m kind of used to going all the way through every full game, each game. And I am excited and ready to get going.”

The older brother of standout Steelers safety Terrell Edmunds, Trey Edmunds doesn’t have that type of first-round-draft-pick pedigree or, frankly, talent level. But Trey Edmunds has endeared himself to teammates through his work ethic, special-teams proficiency and hard running style.

But the prospects look bleak for Edmunds to make the 53-man roster. The numbers game at running back isn’t a pretty one: starter James Conner, versatile backup Jaylen Samuels and fullback Roosevelt Nix are entrenched, and Benny Snell is a rookie fourth-round pick for a team that typically is loathe to keep more than four at the position.

Edmunds isn’t letting that get him down heading into Thursday’s preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers.

“I’m going out there and giving it my all like I always do, like I did last week and like I did the first preseason game,” Edmunds said. “That thought won’t change coming from my point of view, but I know a lot of guys are going to out there and be hungry, and I’m one of those guys.”

After going undrafted out of Maryland (he played his senior year there as a graduate transfer after being a teammate of Terrell’s at Virginia Tech), Edmunds beat the odds by making the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2017.

Edmunds made it through the final cut after training camp, and he appeared in all 16 Saints games that year, mostly as a “core four” special teamer (though also carried nine times for 48 yards and a touchdown).

“It’s definitely cool to be here with Terrell,” Trey Edmunds said. “We were able to pick each other up, teach each other some things, strengthen our bond. It was already strong but strengthen it even more.” https://t.co/XYHE8nfyai

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But a year later, Edmunds was on the wrong end of another New Orleans cutdown day. The Steelers signed him days later, and he spent three months on their practice squad before being promoted to the active roster for the final four regular-season games. He did not play on offense, though, instead just appearing on special teams.

That again is where Edmunds will have to make his mark this season if he has any chance of sticking on the Steelers’ 53-man roster.

Still, Edmunds has shown ability as a bruising short-yardage back during camp and in preseason games.

Edmunds has one more chance to make an in-game impression Thursday night in Carolina.

“Each opportunity presents something new,” Edmunds said. “This one, it’s just another chance to go out there and prove what I can do and show the coaches and have fun with my brothers and just go out there one more time on the field and just do our thing.”

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