Saw a story recently that Ben Roethlisberger and tight end Jesse James have been working on developing a red-zone rapport at OTAs. The Steelers released Ladarius Green, and didn't add anyone of note, so it's James, Xavier Grimble and the league's other David Johnson at the position.
Either because they haven't had the right tight end or are just asking those players to do more blocking, the Steelers haven't gotten much impact out of the position the last two seasons. Their tight ends have totaled just 1,441 yards and 9 TDs. Both are bottom-10 figures.
Last year James was the main guy (39-338-3), Green next in line (18-304-2), Grimble 3rd (11-118-2). James seems to be the best bet for fantasy relevance, but it looks to be a pretty modest level. Whatever they're saying now about the two connecting in practice.
TEAM TIGHT END PRODUCTION, 2015-2016 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team TEs | Yards | Yds Rk | TD | TD Rk |
New England | 2725 | 1 | 26 | 1 |
Philadelphia | 2603 | 2 | 10 | 21T |
Tennessee | 2576 | 3 | 19 | 5T |
Carolina | 2452 | 4 | 13 | 10T |
Washington | 2399 | 5 | 20 | 3T |
Kansas City | 2304 | 6 | 11 | 19T |
San Diego | 2183 | 7 | 25 | 2 |
Seattle | 2097 | 8 | 12 | 14T |
Indianapolis | 1959 | 9 | 17 | 7 |
Cleveland | 1877 | 10 | 14 | 9 |
New Orleans | 1833 | 11 | 15 | 8 |
Baltimore | 1762 | 12 | 10 | 21T |
San Francisco | 1735 | 13 | 13 | 10T |
Tampa Bay | 1638 | 14 | 19 | 5T |
Dallas | 1628 | 15 | 8 | 27T |
Minnesota | 1616 | 16 | 13 | 10T |
Cincinnati | 1611 | 17 | 20 | 3T |
Chicago | 1584 | 18 | 13 | 10T |
Jacksonville | 1568 | 19 | 12 | 14T |
Atlanta | 1547 | 20 | 12 | 14T |
Houston | 1542 | 21 | 11 | 19T |
Denver | 1482 | 22 | 6 | 30 |
Pittsburgh | 1441 | 23 | 9 | 24T |
Detroit | 1437 | 24 | 9 | 24T |
NY Giants | 1437 | 25 | 8 | 27T |
Buffalo | 1399 | 26 | 7 | 29 |
Los Angeles | 1336 | 27 | 5 | 31 |
Green Bay | 1326 | 28 | 12 | 14T |
Oakland | 1260 | 29 | 10 | 21T |
Arizona | 1162 | 30 | 9 | 24T |
Miami | 1111 | 31 | 12 | 14T |
NY Jets | 268 | 32 | 1 | 32 |
--Andy Richardson