Kevin Jobity Jr. Kept His ‘Blinders’ On While Fighting To Make the Steelers

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Kevin Jobity Jr. Kept His ‘Blinders’ On While Fighting To Make the Steelers

Heena Singh · Gridiron Heroics

Sun, Sep 6, 2026 ·

3 min read

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Kevin Jobity Jr. had plenty of reasons to look around and wonder where he stood. He was an undrafted rookie buried in a crowd in the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive line room, with little margin for error. Instead, he kept his focus narrow and treated the 53-man roster like it was already his destination.

That mindset followed him all summer. Even when the reps were limited and the odds looked rough, Jobity kept working. Then he got one final chance against his hometown team and made sure the Steelers noticed.

Kevin Jobity Jr. Earned His Steelers Spot By Tuning Out The Noise

Jun 9, 2026; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy speaks during Minicamp at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Jobity admitted that making the Steelers was his mindset before he ever arrived with the Steelers. He was not going to let depth-chart projections, limited practice opportunities, or the uncertainty surrounding an undrafted rookie change that belief. The Syracuse product said he simply tried to block everything else out and handle each day on its own.

"My mindset even before I came here was that I was going to make the team. I just carried that out here every single day. Good days, bad days, whatever it was, I always believed in myself I was going to make it. I tried my best to put my blinders on and ignore whatever was going on around me."

There was plenty going on around him, too. Jobity spent much of training camp away from the Steelers' primary defensive line rotations, according to the team's beat reporters. He was not getting the same opportunities as some of the more established names in the room; however, that changed when the preseason games arrived.

Jobity flashed throughout the summer, then saved one of his biggest moments for the Buffalo Bills . The 6-foot-4, 308-pound defensive tackle grew up in the area and was back in his hometown for the Steelers preseason finale against the Bills, with family and friends in the building, he recorded a sack of Shane Buechele .

Jobity later said he had envisioned the play happening before kickoff. The Steelers clearly saw enough. They kept seven defensive linemen on its initial 53-man roster, and Jobity became the lone undrafted rookie from the team's 2026 class to survive the cut. General manager Omar Khan pointed directly to the rookie's disruption and credited him for making the most of his opportunities. Brian Baldinger also highlighted something that showed up repeatedly on Jobity's film: he does not stop when the quarterback gets the ball out.

Now Jobity has gone from fighting simply to make the roster to trying to carve out a role on it. He won't walk into the Steelers as a starter, and they have plenty of veteran talent ahead of him, and the blinders can stay on. There is another depth-chart battle coming but this time, Jobity already has a locker.

Kevin Jobity Jr. Earned His Steelers Spot By Tuning Out The Noise

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