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Steelers Snap Totals vs. Seattle show Jesse James as the heir apparent behind Heath Miller

The Pittsburgh Steelers loss to the Seattle Seahawks did more than just hand them their 5th defeat; the snap totals show a sign of quality depth at a couple positions.

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

It is never fun to see any players for the Pittsburgh Steelers get injured, especially fan favorites like Heath Miller. However, when Miller was lost on separate occasions with a rib injury, it was Jesse James who got the nod at Miller's position as tight end - a tall task for the rookie from Penn State.

Looking at the snap totals from the Week 12 game against the Seattle Seahawks, it was James who logged more snaps (40) than veteran tight end Matt Spaeth (25) when Miller left the game. Some might chalk this up to happenstance, but James has proven he is willing to take the next step in his progression and be the next heir apparent to the tight end position when Miller decides to call it a career.

Miller looks as if he still has one more season left in him, which would give the team more time to develop James and have him learn under Miller. The biggest knock on James coming out of college was his lack of physicality and blocking. He has improved by leaps and bounds in that department, and combined with his tremendous size and hands, he looks to be the total package for the future of the tight end position in the Steel City.

Check out the complete list of snap totals for the Steelers, courtesy of Pro-Football Reference.

Steelers Snap Counts

Off. Def. ST
Pos Num Pct Num Pct Num Pct
David DeCastro G 80 100% 0 0% 5 17%
Marcus Gilbert T 80 100% 0 0% 5 17%
Alejandro Villanueva T 80 100% 0 0% 5 17%
Ramon Foster G 80 100% 0 0% 5 17%
Cody Wallace C 80 100% 0 0% 0 0%
Antonio Brown WR 78 98% 0 0% 0 0%
Ben Roethlisberger QB 77 96% 0 0% 0 0%
DeAngelo Williams RB 76 95% 0 0% 0 0%
Martavis Bryant WR 66 83% 0 0% 0 0%
Markus Wheaton WR 60 75% 0 0% 0 0%
Jesse James TE 40 50% 0 0% 1 3%
Heath Miller TE 30 38% 0 0% 1 3%
Matt Spaeth TE 25 31% 0 0% 12 40%
Roosevelt Nix FB 8 10% 0 0% 22 73%
Will Johnson FB 8 10% 0 0% 18 60%
Darrius Heyward-Bey WR 8 10% 0 0% 15 50%
Landry Jones QB 3 4% 0 0% 1 3%
Jordan Todman RB 1 1% 0 0% 12 40%
Antwon Blake CB 0 0% 62 105% 7 23%
Will Allen SS 0 0% 62 105% 5 17%
William Gay CB 0 0% 62 105% 4 13%
Michael Mitchell FS 0 0% 62 105% 4 13%
Lawrence Timmons LB 0 0% 62 105% 4 13%
Stephon Tuitt DE 0 0% 60 102% 8 27%
Cameron Heyward DE 0 0% 58 98% 9 30%
Ross Cockrell CB 0 0% 47 80% 0 0%
Arthur Moats LB 0 0% 34 58% 7 23%
James Harrison LB 0 0% 34 58% 4 13%
Bud Dupree LB 0 0% 28 47% 8 27%
Vince Williams LB 0 0% 27 46% 25 83%
Sean Spence LB 0 0% 24 41% 10 33%
Steve McLendon NT 0 0% 17 29% 4 13%
Ryan Shazier LB 0 0% 11 19% 2 7%
Cam Thomas DE 0 0% 4 7% 1 3%
Terence Garvin LB 0 0% 0 0% 22 73%
Shamarko Thomas SS 0 0% 0 0% 22 73%
Robert Golden FS 0 0% 0 0% 22 73%
Brandon Boykin CB 0 0% 0 0% 17 57%
Jacoby Jones WR 0 0% 0 0% 13 43%
Chris Boswell K 0 0% 0 0% 12 40%
Greg Warren LS 0 0% 0 0% 7 23%
Jordan Berry P 0 0% 0 0% 6 20%
Doug Legursky C 0 0% 0 0% 5 17%