One of the more disappointing moves for the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason was when tight end Jesse James signed with the Detroit Lions. He was woefully underused in the passing offense and headed out for a big raise and likely a bigger role in the Lions offense.
What does the tight end depth chart look like with just days before the draft? Let’s dig in a little.
Vance McDonald
Last season, McDonald was the top receiving option among Steelers’ tight ends and fourth on the team with 50 receptions. But even with that, it never felt like there was much to the passing offense at the tight end position. McDonald should see a nice bump in production.
Xavier Grimble
With James gone, Xavier Grimble takes over the No. 2 spot on the depth chart by default. His claim to fame last season was an awful fumble against the Denver Broncos. But the truth is there is no way of knowing if Grimble is even capable of handling a heavier workload.
Overall
There are two ways to look at the Steelers need at tight end. If you assume Pittsburgh will continue to used their tight ends mainly as blockers and only the occasional receiver, the Steelers won’t address the position at all in the draft.
But if you want to see the Steelers try to replace some of the production lost when Antonio Brown was traded away by the tight ends, a high draft pick in this class would make a lot of sense.
