Tight end class likely to have Steelers calling

INDIANAPOLIS — As the Pittsburgh Steelers await ratification of the collective bargaining agreement and the salary-cap figure for the 2020 season, no position on the roster could be affected more by the outcome than tight end.

Vance McDonald has started the past three seasons, but he had a career-low 7.2 yards per catch last season. He will count $7,127,500 against the salary cap if he remains on the roster and less than $1.5 million if he is released.

With the Steelers already having the least amount of cap space among the 32 teams, according to spotrac.com, McDonald could be a cap casualty — depending on the 2020 allotment.

Backup Nick Vannett, acquired in an early-season trade with Seattle, is an unrestricted free agent and caught just 13 passes in 13 games with the Steelers.

It’s conceivable when training camp begins that 2019 fifth-round pick Zach Gentry will be the only holdover from the season-ending roster.

Such uncertainty is one reason the Steelers could target a tight end in the second round — no matter if they add a veteran in free agency or retain McDonald and/or Vannett once league business opens March 18.

Barring a trade, the Steelers won’t make their first pick until No. 49. They haven’t chosen a tight end that high since taking Heath Miller at No. 30 in 2005.

NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said in advance of the NFL Combine that some of his top three tight end prospects — Cole Kmet, Harrison Bryant and Adam Trautman — could be on the board for the Steelers.

“I think all those guys are in position to potentially be the first tight end picked,” Jeremiah said. “I don’t think any of them are first-round guys.”

Jeremiah predicted Bryant, of Florida Atlantic, and Trautman, who played at Division I FCS Dayton, could fall to the Steelers.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. also has Bryant and Trautman as second-round possibilities, with Kmet going late in the first round or early in the second.

“Those are the guys that are most intriguing to me,” Kiper said.

While teams continue to search for the next Rob Gronkowski, they may have to settle for players emulating the next wave of tight ends – a group that includes Kansas City’s Travis Kelce, San Francisco’s George Kittle and Philadelphia’s Zach Ertz.

Kmet, who also played baseball at Notre Dame before leaving school with one year of eligibility remaining, is 6-foot-6, 262 pounds. He had 43 catches for 515 yards and six touchdowns last year before missing his final two games with a broken collarbone.

“He’s the one, if you’re saying, OK, who looks like Gronk and who kind of has that physicality to them, it would be Kmet,” Jeremiah said. “Now, he’s not nearly as athletic as Gronk, but he’s somebody with that big catch radius. He’s tough to tackle — big, physical and strong. He’s good in the run game, he can create some movement there and help you. He’s a nice two-way tight end.”

Trautman, who measured 6-5, 255 at the combine, couldn’t attract FBS attention coming out of high school as a quarterback, so he enrolled at Dayton, receiving no athletic scholarship money. He volunteered to switch positions as a freshman, and he emerged as an NFL prospect as a senior when he caught 70 passes for 916 yards and 14 touchdowns. Trautman continued to impress scouts at the Senior Bowl.

“It was huge for me,” he said. “I wanted the opportunity to go against kids with Alabama stickers on their helmet — Ohio State, Michigan. It was huge for me confidence-wise. I never really wavered in my confidence, but to go out and move people off the ball, get separation, it was a seamless transition for me.”

Florida Atlantic’s Bryant is one of two tight end prospects with his surname, the other being Washington’s Hunter Bryant.

Harrison Bryant, at 6-5, 243 pounds, has drawn comparisons to Kittle. As a senior, Bryant won the John Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end after catching 65 passes for 1,004 yards and seven TDs. Because of his high school background as a tackle, he is considered a well-rounded tight end.

“He did a good job blocking when he got to the Senior Bowl,” Jeremiah said. “I think he’s in the mix to be the first overall guy.”

Among the next wave of prospects are Purdue’s Brycen Hopkins, Missouri’s Albert Okwuegbunam, Vanderbilt’s Jared Pinkney and LSU’s Thaddeus Moss.

Perhaps the most intriguing player of that group for the Steelers is Okwuegbunam, and not merely because he had a formal 18-minute visit with them at the combine. Okwuegbunam opened eyes by recording the best time among tight ends in the 40-yard dash, running it in 4.49 seconds while carrying 258 pounds on his 6-5 frame.

“I like to stretch the field,” Okwuegbunam said. “I like using my speed to my advantage. I love when coaches have the confidence in me to stretch the field. Being a tight end, I feel like that is the big thing I can add to create mismatches and add that element to the game.”

Moss, son of Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss, is one of the shorter tight ends in his class, standing 6-2. Moss transferred to LSU from N.C. State, playing only one season for the Tigers after sitting out 2018 with a foot injury.

In 2019, Moss was a favorite target of likely No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow, catching 47 passes for 570 yards and four TDs. Two came in the national championship victory against Clemson.

Moss, though, is more excited about what happens when he doesn’t catch the ball.

“I’d rather block,” he said. “I took pride in that all year. Receivers would ask in the offseason how many catches and touchdowns I was going to have. I don’t care about catches. Y’all can have as many as y’all want.

“I’m a tight end, I’m not a receiver. I’ll do the dirty work and y’all go score touchdowns and do your little dances. I’ll go block for them.”

One drawback is Moss has a fracture in his right foot that was discovered during his medical exam at the combine. He will not be able to work out prior to the draft.