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Tevin Jones might be the least known of the Pittsburgh Steelers wideouts who are with the team. He has never made an NFL roster like Johnny Holton. He does not have a famous father like Trey Griffey. He has never garnered accolades in the Canadian Football league like Diontae Spencer. Heck, the former Memphis Tigers does not even have a Wiki page.
If you were glued to your TV during the fourth preseason game in 2018, you should recognize his name at least. In the preseason finale, Jones hauled in three catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns.
His career at Memphis was nondescript with 90 receptions over 46 games.
His redshirt freshman year, Jones snagged 10 receptions for 165 yards and a touchdown. He was not limited to just catching the ball. He also had 10 rushes for 32 yards and a second touchdown. He also impacted special teams with a punt block and a recovered punt block for a touchdown.
In 2013, he sophomore season, Jones Hauled in 25 passes for 292 yards and a touchdown. Jones made seven starts and played in all 12 of the contests.
Jones had his best collegiate season during his junior season hauling in 33 receptions for 442 yards and three touchdowns. While starting 10 of the 13 games during the season, the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder reeled in a solid 13.4 yards per reception.
In his final season at Memphis, Jones only garnered 22 receptions for 316 yards and four touchdowns. He did, however, notch 45 yards on nine rushes over the course of the season.
While at his pro day, Jones put up solid numbers with a 4.48 forty time, 10’5″ broad jump, 36.5” vertical leap, and a 6.88 second three-cone drill. Even with the good SPARQ numbers, he went undrafted.
The Houston Texans signed Jones as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2016 but he did not make an impact in their preseason and was cut prior to the season. However, he was resigned to the Texans practice squad in December.
In January 2017, he signed a reserve/future contract with Houston but his Houston career came to an end in May when he was again cut by the team. The Kansas City Chiefs scooped him up in June to kick his tires. Again, Jones was unable to stick with an NFL team and was cut prior to the season.
Out of the league for the season, Pittsburgh signed Jones to a reserve/future contract in January 2018.
The first three games of the 2018 preseason Jones accounted for one lone catch for five yards. The fourth preseason game is the one where starters barely play and fans have a tough time watching with the deep reserves seeing plenty of playing time. This was the game that earned Jones a spot of the Steelers 2018 practice squad. Three catches, 90 receptions, and two touchdowns later, Jones finally put up film for the coaches to evaluate his true talent. His eye-popping 30.yards per reception night could have been better except for a pair of brutal drops.
Was it the drops or just the Steelers deep wideout crops in 2018 that kept him from making the 53-man roster? Sticking with the Steelers practice squad through 2018 had to be a great learning experience and possibly a leg up on his 2019 competition. JuJu Smith-Schuster, 2018 second-round pick James Washington, 2019 third rounder Diontae Johnson along with free agent acquisition Donte Moncrief are the four wide receivers who are locked in with the team this season. Will the Steelers keep five or six receivers on the 53-man roster will be debated all fall and have fans waiting impatiently for the final roster to be released early in September. Jones will have to showcase his skills that were in the spotlight against the Carolina Panthers last August if he wants to make a name for himself this summer to land with the Steelers and possibly get a Wiki page.