Jesse James wasn’t drafted to be a No. 1 tight end. For two seasons with the Steelers, he was viewed as a capable backup to Heath Miller in 2015 and supposedly Ladarius Green last year.
But curious circumstances kept unfolding for James. Miller, the team’s all-time leader in receptions by a tight end, retired, somewhat surprisingly, after the 2015 season. And Green, signed as a valuable free agent before the 2016 season, played in only six games because of recurring concussion-like symptoms and was released two weeks ago when he failed the team’s physical.
All of a sudden, the player who was not viewed as a No.