For the second year in a row, the Pittsburgh Steelers watched a veteran tight end depart in the offseason.

Unlike this time last year, they won’t feel obligated to replace him with a player taken high in the NFL Draft.

A few months after Vance McDonald retired after the 2020 season, the Steelers selected Penn State’s Pat Freiermuth in the second round.

Freiermuth developed so much in his rookie season that the Steelers allowed Eric Ebron, who remains unsigned, to leave in free agency.

Ebron didn’t play after Week 11 because of a knee injury, and the Steelers hardly missed him. Freiermuth finished third on the team with 60 receptions, and he totaled 497 yards and seven touchdowns, which tied the franchise record for a rookie tight end. His receptions, targets (79), yards, first downs gained (34) and yards after the catch (247) were second among all NFL rookie tight ends in 2021.

Ebron’s minuscule production — he had 12 catches for 84 yards and a touchdown — were exceeded by third-year tight end Zach Gentry, who caught 19 passes for 167 yards. Pine-Richland’s Kevin Rader emerged as a viable third option at the position.

Freiermuth, Gentry and Rader each return this season, and they will be joined in offseason workouts by Jace Sternberger, a former third-round pick by Green Bay who finished last season on the Steelers practice squad.

The depth in the position room is such that the Steelers likely will wait until the third day of the draft before showing interest — if any — in adding another tight end.

And given the lack of elite tight ends in the 2022 draft class, it would be a waste of a pick for the Steelers to address the position before the fourth round.

For the second consecutive year, tight end is ranked near or at the bottom of the 11 position groups ranked by various draft outlets.

The 2021 class was topped by Kyle Pitts, who went to Atlanta with the No. 4 and was the only rookie tight end to top Freiermuth in catches (68) and receiving yards (1,026).

After Freiermuth went to the Steelers at No. 55, the third tight end wasn’t selected until the 81st overall pick, and only three were drafted in that third round.

NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote: “This actually is a fairly deep position in this year’s draft, but when you plug in ‘star potential’ and ‘future starters’ into the mix, the total grade comes down substantially.”

Zierlein rated interior defensive linemen as the only group with fewer top prospects than tight ends.

“Last year’s class lacked depth but had Kyle Pitts as an absolute stud, while this year’s class doesn’t even feature a 6.4 prospect (my mark for a very good starter). Teams are going to find depth well into Day 3, but it’s a middle/lower-middle-class crop this season,” he said.

CBS Sports analyst Chris Trapasso agreed, calling tight ends the “caboose of this year’s draft class from a positional strength perspective.”

No tight end carries a first-round grade, and there is no consensus about the top prospect at the position.

Colorado State’s Trey McBride won the John Mackey Award given annually to college football’s top tight end. He has a chance to be the first taken after catching 90 passes for 1,121 yards in his senior year.

Ohio State’s Jeremy Ruckert caught just 54 passes in 44 games spanning four seasons, but his blocking and pass protections skills have made him one of the group’s better prospects.

“I think you want guys that are dynamic, but it’s also sure nice to be able to put your hand in the ground and be a friend to the running back and the quarterback,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “I think he can do that. I think that’s where he’s going to help his value a little bit.”

Top 5 tight ends

1. Trey McBride, Colorado State, Sr., 6-4, 246

McBride was a first-team All-American and finished ninth in the country with 90 catches, and he led the team with 1,121 receiving yards.

2. Greg Dulcich, UCLA, R-Jr., 6-4, 243

A walk-on who didn’t earn a scholarship until his junior year, Dulcich led UCLA with 517 receiving yards and five touchdowns in covid-shortened 2020. He followed up by averaging 17.3 yards per catch on 42 receptions in 2021. He also scored five touchdowns for the second year in a row.

3. Jeremy Ruckert, Ohio State, Sr., 6-5, 250

Ruckert saw the field in all four of his seasons in Columbus, and he set career highs for receptions (26) and receiving yards (309) in 2021. He also scored three touchdowns in 12 games that included 10 starts.

4. Jelani Woods, Virginia, R-Sr., 6-7, 259

He enrolled at Oklahoma State as a quarterback before moving to tight end during his redshirt season. He spent three years with the Cowboys before transferring to Virginia. He was a first-team all-conference pick in the ACC after catching 44 passes for 598 yards and eight touchdowns.

5. Cade Otton, Washington, R-Sr., 6-5, 247

Otton was a four-year starter at Washington, and he returned for one final season in 2021 rather than declare for the draft. He missed two games because of covid protocols and two more with a foot injury and caught just one touchdown pass on 28 receptions.

Best fit for Steelers, first day

Nobody

We like to slot a player for each day of the draft, but no tight ends in this class carry a first-round grade, and the Steelers wouldn’t take one here anyhow given they took Pat Freiermuth in the second round last season.

Best fit for Steelers, second day

Jelani Woods, Virginia

Heath Miller had a record-setting career with the Steelers coming out of Virginia, and Woods’ size makes him an even bigger target. The Steelers, though, have no reason to take a tight end until the third day, and Woods probably won’t make it that far.

Best fit for Steelers, third day

Jake Ferguson, Wisconsin

The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Ferguson was a first-team all-conference pick in the Big Ten last year after catching 46 passes for 450 yards and three touchdowns. He also comes from a football family. His grandfather is Barry Alvarez, the former Wisconsin coach and athletic director.

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