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What is Jesse James upside as a pass catcher?

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The Steelers ignored the TE position in the draft, knowing in advance they would part ways with Bust L Green, and had a chance to Selected Jake Butt in round 4, but chose a developmental QB instead.

So they must think highly enough of Jesse James.

Last season James had 38 catches 396 yards 10.4 yards per catch and 3 touchdowns.

Solid for the 3rd passing option, but if given more chances, what is his upside?
 
Just like anyone on the field of play the more opertunities, the more production. James is getting close to MAXing out his production / physical ability. You can't coach top end speed, either you have it or you don't. Jesse doesn't have it. Now do I wish him the world to succeed, HELL yes and to completely over acheive.




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you can't get everything you want in one draft.

It as more about addressing needs with value

They picked a QB because that depth needed upgrading. Unless yinz think Interception Landry is the answer if BIg Ben goes down or retires.

And hell Dobbs might be the answer but you try, you don't sit on your hands and hope and pray without a plan in place.

Which position is inherently more important to the team?

I think we know the answer..............
 
I think he's basically there. James is just a guy and that's alright when you have guys like Brown, Bryant and Bell on the field.
 
Just like anyone on the field of play the more opertunities, the more production. James is getting close to MAXing out his production / physical ability. You can't coach top end speed, either you have it or you don't. Jesse doesn't have it. Now do I wish him the world to succeed, HELL yes and to completely over acheive.




Salute the nation
And it would be nice to have a top of position physical specimen at every position. Just not realistic. And I would never have considered Heath to be that type of speed player either. James just needs combat catch ability, route running and chemistry with Ben to get his 3-5 catches and 5 or so TDs per season to be what the Steelers need. AB, Bryant and Bell can be the matchup nightmares.
 
I think he's basically there. James is just a guy and that's alright when you have guys like Brown, Bryant and Bell on the field.

Yep, he's a possession guy. He seems to have good hands, does ok blocking and runs routes pretty well, but I think he's never going to be a big play guy.
 
And it would be nice to have a top of position physical specimen at every position. Just not realistic. And I would never have considered Heath to be that type of speed player either. James just needs combat catch ability, route running and chemistry with Ben to get his 3-5 catches and 5 or so TDs per season to be what the Steelers need. AB, Bryant and Bell can be the matchup nightmares.

I think he is good enough. With Bryant back, that should open up things for him or whatever TE is in there.

Key for this team as in many other seasons past is staying relatively clean injury wise.

I think the team addressed the depth issues pretty decently.

Bell.Big Ben, and Brown need to be there down the stretch.

Hopefully the depth at WR and RB can help with that.
 
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We will find out this year. He will get most practice and snaps with 1st team and this will really be his first year as the starter. I can easily see him with 50+ catches and 5+ TD's. I'd take that all day long.
 
James will provide what is needed. With so many weapons on O, his ability at present will be more than enough. Hell, by the 3/4 mark of the season we will be using his name quite often in the description of the O.





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He's 6'8" and catches and runs well enough. We already have several very good WR's. We will be fine.
 
I also think that when they tag team James with Grimble, it will make the position that much stronger. I keep seeing Grimble's name in glowing reports and will be interested to see if he performs up to their expectations.

Either way, I think James will be just fine.


 
The Steelers ignored the TE position in the draft, knowing in advance they would part ways with Bust L Green, and had a chance to Selected Jake Butt in round 4, but chose a developmental QB instead.

So they must think highly enough of Jesse James.

Last season James had 38 catches 396 yards 10.4 yards per catch and 3 touchdowns.

Solid for the 3rd passing option, but if given more chances, what is his upside?

I expect the same numbers with a 25% of chance of improving them: 500 yards, 50 catches, 4-5 TDs but even with the same numbers like last season and having AB, Bryant and Bell being the workhorses those statswould be great for our starting TE.

Keep improving on the blocking side and he will be a great complementary piece to the O. He showed soft hands even in the middle of heavy traffic so he can be a reliable (and big sized) escape valve for Ben
 
I'd have been surprised if we didnt take Njoku if he had been available.
******* Browns
 
Don't know if we'll ever find out what his ceiling could be, not with so many other mouths to feed on this team. Every pass he catches is a pass that didn't go to Brown, Bryant, Bell, and now JuJu. 50 catches would be a lot.
 
He provides sure hands and few drops. That's all you need from a TE.

Though I'm interested in URFA Phazon (sp?) and want to see what he does at TE spot. He looks like a WR the way he gets in and out of routes.
 
He'll never be used properly


With our rushing game and Bryant and Brown, the Steelers could be a top play action team with the TE as there a lot for the opposing defense to worry about! Yet Haley does not call it often enough. It is here I think James can shine a bit more. I read James lost some weight to increase his speed a bit.
 
With our rushing game and Bryant and Brown, the Steelers could be a top play action team with the TE as there a lot for the opposing defense to worry about! Yet Haley does not call it often enough. It is here I think James can shine a bit more. I read James lost some weight to increase his speed a bit.

I like Grimble better for that task, he gotta work on his hands though
 
With our rushing game and Bryant and Brown, the Steelers could be a top play action team with the TE as there a lot for the opposing defense to worry about! Yet Haley does not call it often enough. It is here I think James can shine a bit more. I read James lost some weight to increase his speed a bit.


Steelers barely used their TE's when we had Heath, maybe one or two throws in the first half, then nothing.

Ben likes his WR's
 
Upside? Superbowl MVP. 3 touchdowns and 4 key blocks.

Likelihood? Low.

That said, I like him so far. If he keeps improving on his blocking, and catching sure handedness....that is all he needs to do.

Speed is nice, but in a tight end I am good with making a block, releasing and turning around for sure 5 yards when needed.
 
He has performed better than my expectations, so far. So, I am going to say he sucks and let him continue to prove me wrong.
 
Steelers barely used their TE's when we had Heath, maybe one or two throws in the first half, then nothing.

Ben likes his WR's

Heath had a couple of 10 catch games. We like to use our TEs to stay in and block. Its noticeable when they go to the TE because they're usually good plays over the middle of the field. We're going to see lots of 3, 4 & 5 WR sets with this offense.
 
Butt would not be a upgrade over him week one or even week 12 so why draft him?
 
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