Chip Trayanum is still here. The Jets cut three injured players on Saturday, and the undrafted rookie running back survived the latest roster moves as the team heads into its final preseason game against the Giants on Friday night.
That matters because this is the last chance to make a case before the roster picture tightens. Trayanum, who has been fighting for a spot behind Breece Hall and Isaiah Davis, has only 24 rushing yards on nine preseason carries in two games. He has also played 31 offensive snaps, a small sample that has not produced much separation.
The numbers explain why the search for his name has sharpened now. The Jets are close to decision time, and the running back room is already dealing with injuries to Hall and Davis. That should have created an opening for an undrafted rookie with a power profile, but Trayanum has not seized it in the games that count most for his bid.
His best selling point is not volume. It is the kind of runner he once became. Before that, he was a linebacker, then turned into a bruising downhill back in his senior season at Toledo, where 560 of his 1,015 rushing yards came after contact. Over six college seasons at four different schools, he finished with 2,273 yards and 25 touchdowns, a track record that says he has found ways to survive every time the path narrowed.
That history, though, has not translated cleanly to the preseason. Pro Football Focus credited Trayanum with allowing two pressures in five pass-blocking snaps, and he also had a missed tackle and a hold on a kick return on special teams. For a player who needs every rep to count, those are the kinds of mistakes that do not help when the roster is being trimmed.
So while he escaped Saturday's wave of cuts, that does not mean the Jets have committed to him. It means only that he is still in the race when others are not. With one preseason game left against the Giants, Trayanum needs a cleaner, louder performance than he has delivered so far if he is going to turn survival into a place on the initial 53-man roster.
