James is expected to start at tight end, after teammate Ladarius Green (ankle) was moved to the regular-season PUP list Tuesday, ruling him out for the first six weeks of the season, ESPN.com reports.
Things have been moving in this direction throughout training camp, with Green unable to participate while slowly recovering from January ankle surgery. James has thus had the opportunity to work with the first-team offense throughout the offseason program and camp, capping things off by catching four passes for 25 yards and a touchdown in Friday's preseason game against the Saints. The 2015 fifth-round selection didn't do much with his limited playing time last season, catching eight passes for 56 yards and a touchdown on 181 offensive snaps. James should be more involved this season, but wideouts Markus Wheaton, Eli Rogers and Sammie Coates are the better bets to emerge as Ben Roethlisberger's secondary options behind Antonio Brown and DeAngelo Williams/Le'Veon Bell.