“Position Battles” is a series which will explore upcoming training camp battles from an individual player perspective. Each article will aim to make a case for, and against, a player making the roster based on the spots available at their position.

What a difference a week makes.

Last week many were thinking Xavier Grimble was on the Steelers hot seat, following the signing of a promising tight end from whom was invited to their rookie camp. Pittsburgh didn’t pick any tight ends in this year’s draft, which appeared to be an endorsement for injury-prone Ladarius Green.

Surely the Steelers were going to give a Green another look, right?

Wrong.

Ladarius was let go late last week, leaving the cupboard bare at the tight end position.

Or is it?

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Perhaps the team’s reluctance to reach for a tight end had more to do with who else was on the depth chart. Jesse James appears to inherit a starting role which was all but his anyway. The second-year tight end was already headed in that direction when the team parted ways with Heath Miller and Matt Spaeth last offseason, but they added Green with an unusual splash in free agency for the Steelers.

With Green playing all but six games in 2016, the focus shifted to the “next man up”. Players such as James and Grimble were those next men in line for more playing time. Grimble was a beneficiary of Green’s shortcomings last offseason, passing a tight race for the final tight end slots on the 53-man roster, and then receiving snaps by playing in 13 of the Steelers 16 regular season games.

This season, Grimble will have to compete for his spot again but has the advantage of a year in the system. Grimble knows the playbook and the protocol. That should give him an edge over incoming rookies Scott Orndoff and Phazahn Odom (who join the team as undrafted college free agents).

But will that edge be enough?

Grimble was without question the last tight end on the Steelers depth chart in 2016, though he made a couple of starts and was utilized more in the passing game than David Johnson (who started the year ahead of Grimble in the pecking order). The Steelers are also Grimble’s fifth stop, after stints with the tight end poor New York Giants, two tries with the San Francisco 49ers and a visit with New England in between. That’s what makes the case for Grimble a curious one. If teams who could use a talented tight end passed on him, what makes the Steelers think they could get more from him than say, the Patriots?

Or did those teams pass on a player who has much more to offer?

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Grimble finished last season with 11 catches for 21 targets, 118 yards, and two touchdowns. Both of those scores came against AFC North opponents in big games: the biggest on Christmas Day when the team defeated the Baltimore Ravens to win the division.

Though he’s technically not a second-year player (Grimble entered the league in 2014) you could treat the tight end as such with the Steelers. He’ll be fighting for his job, but with the release of Green last week, and looking at some other underdogs over his shoulder, Grimble could be primed for a stronger second season with Pittsburgh.