While there’s understandably lots of talk about how the Steelers’ offense will adjust to the loss of Antonio Brown, the Steelers are also missing another important pass catcher in Jesse James.
James, who signed a lucrative long-term deal with the Detroit Lions this offseason, was one of the most productive receiving tight ends in the NFL on a per-play basis last season. James snagged 77 percent of passes thrown his way in 2018, which ranked third among tight ends who were targeted at least 35 times. He also ranked third in receiving yards per target (10.9) at the position. Football Outsiders estimates that James was about 27 percent better than an average receiving tight end on a per-play basis last year, trailing only Tampa Bay’s O.J. Howard (44 percent above average) and Baltimore’s Mark Andrews (36 percent).
The Steelers just didn’t have the cap room to retain James, and never seemed to really embrace him as a starter. Vance McDonald is plenty capable as a receiver, too, but I wouldn’t bet on Xavier Grimble or Zach Gentry displaying James’ reliable hands or field-stretching ability in 2019.
MORE STEELERS
• Challenge accepted: When the Steelers signed free agent cornerback Steven Nelson to a three-year, $25.5 million contract (albeit with only $7.5 million of that total guaranteed), some fans were puzzled. After all, Nelson was targeted a whopping 109 times while with the Kansas City Chiefs last season, the most among all NFL cornerbacks. But the number requires some context — teams often trailed the Chiefs last year, which means they passed more often against KC’s defense (61.2 percent of total offensive plays, the eighth-highest clip among teams). And when Nelson,26, was targeted, he held his own. He allowed receivers to gain an average of seven yards when he was targeted in 2018, which was the 28th-best rate among all NFL corners (according to Football Outsiders). Nelson might not be an elite-level player, but he’s a solid complement to the recently-extended Joe Haden.
• D-line pressure: When you think of the Steelers’ defense racking up sacks, images of outside linebackers knocking QBs into next week probably come to mind. But the present-day Steelers D has a more diversified group of players getting sacks. Last year, Pittsburgh’s defensive linemen generated 40.4 percent of the team’s NFL-best 52 sacks. That was the sixth-highest percentage of team sacks tallied by defensive linemen. Cam Heyward, Javon Hargrave and Stephon Tuitt can bring the heat, too.
