Does Jesse James have what it takes?

At 6'7" 260 and a 4.7 40, Does Jesse James have what it takes to be a new breed TE for us in the very near future?

Yes-- any TE who gets the pleasure of being mentored by Heath Miller is going to be special, imo.

He is huge, the size of the new breed of TE, and he could be a great weapon for us, especially in the red zone. I know we've only seen a handful of plays from him, but I've been pleased with what I've seen.

He's caught the ball in space on quick throws and shown he can catch. He's also shown his potential in blocking (I believe it was James who was blocking on the Bryant touchdown in the Oakland Raiders game, where it was a quick throw to Bryant at the 10yd line and he juked his way in, with great blocking from James.

I know he's young raw talent and needs some smoothing out, but I'm excited about him.

lotas wrote:

Yes-- any TE who gets the pleasure of being mentored by Heath Miller is going to be special, imo.

He is huge, the size of the new breed of TE, and he could be a great weapon for us, especially in the red zone. I know we've only seen a handful of plays from him, but I've been pleased with what I've seen.

He's caught the ball in space on quick throws and shown he can catch. He's also shown his potential in blocking (I believe it was James who was blocking on the Bryant touchdown in the Oakland Raiders game, where it was a quick throw to Bryant at the 10yd line and he juked his way in, with great blocking from James.

I know he's young raw talent and needs some smoothing out, but I'm excited about him.

He was also the most impactful blocker for another TD in that game I think. A counter play? Idk. I've already forgot that game. He talked about it in his post-game interview. Being the blocker on two scoring plays.

If he can stay healthy, catch the ball down the middle taking huge shots like Miller does than YES, he could be great!

I've been psyched about James since the day we drafted him. I never heard of him until we made the pick but after I checked out some of his college tape I think he has the potential to be our #1 TE and one of the better tight ends in the league. Probably every bit as good if not better than Maxx Williams would have been.

The next Gronk, hell yea.

As long as he keeps getting time in to show his capabilities, I think James could be the real deal. Taking shots like Miller does is the key thing in my eyes.

Stay healthy, and we have the next great reliable TE.

Miller still doesn't get the credit he deserves though.

I think it's a little early. We really don't know how well he can block or as SoCalFan said take the kind of hits Heath takes. I do like what I've seen so far and hope he gets more time to improve.

Heath Miller is back from the knee injury two seasons ago. He has been much more effective this year than last year. He has been a fantastic player for this franchise and a credit to the game and to the organization from the moment he entered the NFL.

When the Steelers drafted James, I was happy about the pick, but with reservations. I followed him his entire career at Penn State. I am a Penn State fan, so I have seen every game he had ever played in college.

He was not as physical as he should have been for a man his size. He was a little soft in the way he played the game. He wasn't a great blocker. He would make great catches, but then drop the simple catch at times.

I said at the time that Jesse James would be as good as he wanted to be. He has the physical gifts to be a very good player, but his attitude and desire need to match that to maximize his gifts. He has shown improvement of every part of his game. He has gotten into shape and is faster. He has obviously worked hard on his blocking, because him improvement is very noticeable. He is starting to look like a reliable option that knows his playbook and has worked his ass off to get better.

I think he has made himself into the second best TE on this roster, and he has a chance to be a very good tight end for a long time. His pass catching ability is far beyond what Matt Spaeth is capable of. Let's just see him continue to work on his craft and his overall game.

He couldn't have a better example to follow than Heath Miller. He should be watching and listening. I believe he is.

Looking good tonight

I don't know that he'll ever be a "Gronk" -level, Pro Bowl pass-catching tight end, but from what I've seen I definitely think he could be a very solid #1 tight end in terms of both pass catching and blocking for us in a few years.

That would be huge if our long-term Heath replacement is already on the roster. Tight Ends seem to be one of the most likely positions to bust on in the first round so not even needing to consider it again for a long time would be awesome.

It sucks that Heath wasn't available for the game last night, but it was awesome to see James play solid in all phases. He played very well in his first start. I liked that they went to him early to soften the outside for the receivers. He showed reliable hands, and he fought for every yard he could get. He was very hard to bring down. I didn't see any breakdowns with his blocking when he was on the field either.

This was a very nice step forward for Jesse and the Steelers. Having a reliable backup for Heath, and the possibility of having another offensive weapon to put on the field with Miller in two TE sets is intriguing and gives them more options offensively.

pczach wrote:

It sucks that Heath wasn't available for the game last night, but it was awesome to see James play solid in all phases. He played very well in his first start. I liked that they went to him early to soften the outside for the receivers. He showed reliable hands, and he fought for every yard he could get. He was very hard to bring down. I didn't see any breakdowns with his blocking when he was on the field either.

This was a very nice step forward for Jesse and the Steelers. Having a reliable backup for Heath, and the possibility of having another offensive weapon to put on the field with Miller in two TE sets is intriguing and gives them more options offensively.

Agreed, he did very well. There were a few times he caught the ball and it took what looked like 6 or 7 Colts defenders before they brought him down. I kept yelling "Just go down!" because that's how you get a strip fumble, but he protected the ball well and fought for every last yard.

pczach wrote:

It sucks that Heath wasn't available for the game last night, but it was awesome to see James play solid in all phases. He played very well in his first start. I liked that they went to him early to soften the outside for the receivers. He showed reliable hands, and he fought for every yard he could get. He was very hard to bring down. I didn't see any breakdowns with his blocking when he was on the field either.

This was a very nice step forward for Jesse and the Steelers. Having a reliable backup for Heath, and the possibility of having another offensive weapon to put on the field with Miller in two TE sets is intriguing and gives them more options offensively.

Exactly.

It's almost sad that Miller is approaching the twilight of his career because having both he and James in the lineup together along with the WR's would be awesome.

But if Miller still has a few good years left in him (which I think he might), that may happen anyway.

Heath has a couple more years left. And than Jesse can be the Tyler Eifert for the Steelers.

He looks a lot better than Spaeth already. Strong blocker but he's got sure hands, something Spaeth never had. He looks like he has potential to be the #1 eventually.

Those poor Yinzers yelled out HEEEEAAAAATTTTTHHHHHH last night after JJ made his first catch. Did they not know that Heath was inactive? :)

Lokki wrote:

Those poor Yinzers yelled out HEEEEAAAAATTTTTHHHHHH last night after JJ made his first catch.  Did they not know that Heath was inactive?  :)

Didn't they do the same thing when Spaeth caught a two point conversion.
The "Outlaw" done well, green as hell but well.

I think it would be great if they continue to call heath name after any tight end catch

vasteeler wrote:

I think it would be great if they continue to call heath name after any tight end catch

I'm waiting for Wheaton to be consistent enough to the point where the crowd chants WHEAAAAT! every time he catches a pass lol

http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/steelers-2015-preview-regular-season-news-updates-roster-depth-chart-salary-cap-tickets-indianapolis-colts-how-to-watch/2015/12/7/9860962/steelers-snap-totals-vs-the-colts-point-to-a-successful-shake-up-in

James played 91% of the snaps and did a good job both blocking and receiving. 3rd week in a row he delivered a pretty solid effort. At the very least he'll be a solid #2 TE, but I think he can be the eventual replacement for Heath if he keeps it up.

From the same link, Boykin actually played more snaps than Blake last game.

Fire Arians wrote:

vasteeler wrote:

I think it would be great if they continue to call heath name after any tight end catch

I'm waiting for Wheaton to be consistent enough to the point where the crowd chants WHEAAAAT! every time he catches a pass lol

And when Bryant catches one they can chant WEEEEEEEEEEEEDDD! too soon?