The first full weekend of preseason action is up and running in the National Football League. Football has finally returned. A former Kentucky standout is looking to make a 53-man roster in the AFC North. A splash was made on Thursday.
Jamin Davis agreed to a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers on June 4. The 27-year-old then made a splash in his preseason debut as head coach Mike McCarthy and his new coaching staff at Acrisure Stadium looked on. Davis finished with eight tackles and two sacks in the win over the Green Bay Packers.
The Washington Commanders selected Davis in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. This South Georgia native would spend three full seasons with the NFC East franchise before being released in the middle of his fourth season in 2024. Davis started 36 games in D.C. but was released when a new coaching staff arrived. After a very short stint with the Minnesota Vikings to end the 2024 season, the linebacker spent time with the New York Jets and Las Vegas Raiders in 2025. Most of that time was spent on the practice squad with the Raiders. Now he is trying to make it back on a 53-man roster with the Steelers. Davis has only played in 11 total games over the last two seasons.
Jamin Davis was a great development story for the Kentucky football program after he went from three-star recruit to one of the best linebackers in college football. That led to an opportunity. Now Davis is looking to hang on in the league. The Steelers have some quality depth at linebacker that the former Kentucky product will now have to overcome as he has shifted to play more of an edge role, but high-level production in the preseason could give him a chance to stick somewhere in the NFL in 2026.