It was clear early in the offseason the Pittsburgh Steelers were not going to prioritize the tight end position. First, they let Jesse James leave via free agency and the team made zero effort to replace his production. And if you say they drafted Zach Gentry as a defense of letting James leave you are missing the point.
Now, with starting tight end Vance McDonald with his shoulder in a sling, it seems clear the tight end position will be an afterthought this week against the Cincinnati Bengals. Xavier Grimble and Zach Gentry are marginal players and offer very little as receivers or blockers.
But what will the Steelers do? Last week, even after McDonald went down Pittsburgh chose not to utilize and extra offensive linemen in run situations and instead used tight ends who cannot run block. Will knowing McDonald won’t be available force offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner to change the plan of attack or is this just another example of how much the Steelers miss Mike Munchak?
