1998 JGC 5.2 not starting..

Ok.. I've had this Jeep sitting around a few years not being driven. Family got too big and another vehicle was purchased to accommodate the crew, and the Jeep sat. So last weekend I picked up a new battery to bring it back to life, and was greeted by a non-starting Jeep :(

In no particular order here are some comments of my searching/findings and yes, questions.

-Fuel gauge (like others out there I think from remembering back in the day) dies out (ODBII reports a P0463 and has for years) Intermittently the gauge will work (often, it does, actually) but currently it's acting "dead" (0 gas)
-Put in fresh fuel (2 gal) to ensure "good" gas was in tank, fairly sure tank was near empty prior to last use.
-cranks over beautifully, no start.
-took off distributor cap, and poured a 'touch' of gas into manifold - Jeep whirred to life, for the briefest of moments (important to me, read next)
-searched several places saying non-starting Jeep that cranks over probably has bad CPS sensor or CKS sensor. All sites claim if either of these sensors are bad, Jeep will cut off fuel pump AND no spark.
-Jeep seems to have spark (see 2x up comment), so relatively sure (???) not a sensor issue.
-Swapped out Fuel Pump relay with another same one (to ensure not a bad relay), no change.
-periodically, between ideas and stuff I tried, checked driver's side fuel rail for any gas to come out between start attempts. No fuel pressure, no fuel there at all.

Sooo.. I'm thinking it's my fuel pump (which is just awesome, cuz I have another garaged car for the same problem, rofl). Are there any checks/tests I can do to verify it is, in fact, the pump? There wasn't on my other car, hoping there is for the Jeep, as I've read on other vehicles you can often access a wiring harness in the engine compartment and zap it with 12v (clearly the harness goes to the fuel pump, rofl). Can we do this somehow on our ZJ's?

Is there anything else I can do, or that ya'll can think of that might be causing it to not start?

Got a ODBII, got a multimeter and ambition :)

As an aside regarding the fuel gauge.. I remember people saying it's like a main wiring harness, but also read one guy claim it was in his drivers door (only see one rubbery enclosure and there feels like only a tiny set of wires, assuming simply for door controls, mirror, etc). If whatever wiring harness is accessible, are there any common areas where this rubbing/fraying/breaking occurs that I could check? I'm honestly not concerned with it, as like I mentioned above, it's been doing that since I bought it (circa 2001) and it never impacted the vehicle starting, running, etc..