Steelers trade for tight end Vance McDonald

By Ray Fittipaldo / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Steelers have traded a fourth-round draft pick to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for tight end Vance McDonald and a fifth-round pick.

Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday the move was made because he has been unhappy with the consistency of the tight ends on the roster.

“The guys hadn’t been consistently varsity enough for our comfort,” Tomlin said. “It’s as black and white as that. They had some positive moments and negative moments. We’re not going to anoint [McDonald] in any way. It’s reasonable to expect the guys who are here to respond the right way to his presence. The end result is we’ll get more competitive play at the position, and that’s what we desire.”

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2017/08/29/vance-mcdonald-trade-steelers-tight-ends-jesse-james-xavier-grimble-david-johnson/stories/201708290121

Not really a bad deal. The Niners aren't going to be good this year and we could be SB bound. Green's concussion problems last year really threw things into a wrench. Good luck to McDonald though. Hope he shines in our offense.

"He missed 16 games over four seasons, and his 15.8 drop percentage was worst among tight ends with at least 75 catchable targets since 2013, according to Pro Football Focus."



oh joy.............

so tomlin thinks another teams disappointment , is his answer to his disappointment ? this guy has been less productive than what we already have on the roster.

McDonald was decent despite playing with pretty horrid QB play in San Fran. Sometimes a fresh start on a winning team is a good thing for a player like McDonald. I'm interested to see what he can do. If anything it's a shot across the bow of the other TEs.

this experiment is going to cost the steelers 2.66 million this season.  hopefully he contributes more than his 30 catch high. his dropsy problems apparently go back to his time at rice.

Quote :

Weaknesses Lacks strength on first contact. Majority of blocking took place in space, no inline, which could show in NFL. At least one drop or bobble per game, occurred even more often at the Senior Bowl. Most occur when he has to adjust or move off his stationary spot. Other times when the ball gets there quickly, unexpected targets. Would like to see him high point more frequently.

http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/vance-mcdonald?id=2540215

Reading Twitter about this trade doesn't give me a good vibe. 49'ers fans are pretty much consistently happy he is gone. From what they said, the only thing McDonald is good at is being injured and dropping passes.

Gotta shake my head on this one. Game 2 McGee looked to me like a pretty good blocker but I didn't see him in the last game.

McDonald has a rep as a good blocker and has good speed at the TE position. I think Ben will be able to capitalize on McDonald's strengths far more than Kaeperdick and Blaine Gabbert ever did. Ben is the kind of guy that makes the players around him better. McDonald has never had the luxury of playing with a QB that should even be mentioned in the same sentence as Ben.

I love the signing personally. I could be very wrong, but I think he's going to flourish in our offense.

He brings good blocking to the group and questionable hands. Consider the 49ers let Delanie Walker go with the plan that McDonald would replace him and they are pretty much swapping a few draft positions in day 3 of the draft to depart with him.....doesn't say much.

Still not a lock to make the roster IMO, but I think the trade for him means they think he can help and should push somebody else off the 53. Its a "meh" move IMO, but with little downside, so why not.

the browns have parted ways with joe haden , is he varsity enough for tomlin to go after ?

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

the browns have parted ways with joe haden , is he varsity enough for tomlin to go after ?

They're meeting with him tonight per a notification I got on my app.

Maybe the Steelers bring in new TEs every pre-season to motivate Jesse "The Outlaw" James?

Yes, that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.