The Pittsburgh Steelers used their fifth-round draft pick in order to draft the 20-year-old tight end Jesse James out of Penn State, whom the scouting department identified as one of the few in the class that can actually fill the role that the Steelers look for in their tight ends as in-line blockers.
The 6’7”, 261-pound junior served primarily as a blocking tight end over the course of his final two seasons, relative to his total workload. For his career there, he caught 78 catches for 1005 yards and 11 touchdowns.
He was added in order to provide valuable depth to an already solid but quickly aging group of tight ends behind Heath Miller, who will turn 33 this season, and Matt Spaeth, who will be turning 32 at around the same time.