Steelers Elevate All-Pro Kick Returner from Practice Squad for Ravens Game
The Pittsburgh Steelers have elevated wide receiver and kickoff returner Jamal Agnew from the practice squad for their Wild Card playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, the team announced.
Agnew joined the Steelers practice squad on Nov. 12 and spent the final two months of the regular season there, without being elevated for a game. If he plays against the Ravens, Agnew will be making his 2024 and Steelers debuts.
Agnew, 29, suffered several injuries in the 2023 season while playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars that sidelined him well into the 2024 season. They had previously worked out Agnew in September.
A 5-foot-10, 190-pound wide receiver, Agnew was originally a fifth-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions in 2017 out of the University of San Diego, an FCS-level school in his hometown.
Agnew played four seasons with the Lions, but his best season came as a rookie in 2017, when he led the NFL with two punt return touchdowns, 447 total punt return yards and a 15.4 yards per return average.
He signed as a free agent with the Jaguars in 2021, and made the Pro Bowl in 2022 when he averaged 26 yards per kickoff return. In his career, Agnew has returned four punts and two kickoffs for touchdowns.
Agnew, who played cornerback in college before converting to receiver, was rarely utilized as a receiver in Detroit, but stepped up that role in Jacksonville. He had 61 catches for 641 yards in his three seasons with the Jaguars. Last season, he caught 14 passes for 225 yards — a 16.1 yards per catch average — before his injury. In 2020 and 2022, he went over 1,000 all-purpose yards on the season.
The Steelers have struggled in returning kickoffs this season. Despite signing four-time former All-Pro Cordarrelle Patterson, the Steelers finished last in kick return average this season at 23 yards per return.
Read This Next
