Who would have thought that with nine draft choices and losing Jesse James to free agency this off-season, the Steelers would have waited until the 5th round of the NFL draft to select a tight end?
To go even further, who would have thought that the tight end they chose would have been Zach Gentry – a former quarterback recruit from Michigan who played only two years at the tight end position.
Selecting a tight end in the draft was necessary for pretty obvious reasons. Jesse James played 50.4 percent of the Steelers total offensive snaps, according to overthecap.com. Though James was, by no means, a transcendent player at the tight end position, he was a solid number two tight end who was rarely injured. In fact, James hadn’t missed a game or practice time since his rookie season in 2015.
According to Steelers.com, the five tight ends currently on the roster are Vance McDonald, Xavier Grimble, Zach Gentry, Christian Scotland-Williamson, and Kevin Rader. Here’s how many NFL starts each one has:
| Player | Starts |
|---|---|
| Vance McDonald | 51 |
| Xavier Grimble | 6 |
| Zach Gentry | 0 |
| Christian Scotland-Williamson | 0 |
| Kevin Rader | 0 |
As you can see, Vance McDonald is the only tight end on the Steelers roster that has any meaningful starting experience.
Xavier Grimble has shown to be a serviceable blocker and receiver when called upon by the Steelers, but the 26-year old former undrafted free agent isn’t the only piece Pittsburgh needs.
If Grimble were to go down for any length of time, the Steelers would be left very short-handed at the position. Even worse, McDonald hasn’t played a 16-game season in his 6-year career. If (and inevitably when) he misses time, the Steelers are going to be in a heap of trouble.
The Steelers desperately need to add another veteran presence to that tight end corps. With some of the more high-profile tight ends already signed in free agency, Pittsburgh could look to bring in a player like Jermaine Gresham or Levine Toilolo. Neither of these guys would be flashy signings for the Steelers, but they could give Pittsburgh depth and security at the position, as well as possibly compete for the number two tight end spot.
The Steelers know more than we do right now about their current tight end situation. But if this is the group they intend to stick with to start the season, I’ll be praying every game that Vance McDonald doesn’t go down.