After the departure of Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell, the current state of the Pittsburgh Steelers offense are filled with question marks. This is also with the exception of JuJu Smith-Schuster. However, there’s one player that can possibly breakout this year: Vance Mcdonald.
McDonald played consistently throughout the 2018 season for the Steelers. He put up a decent stat line of 610 yards with four touchdowns and 50 receptions. According to ProFootballReference.com, McDonald’s yard per reception average was higher than star tight end Zach Ertz of the Philadelphia Eagles, with McDonald’s 12.2 to Ertz’s 10.0.
This is a stat Steelers fans can be encouraged about heading into next season. Many believe that James Washington may be the one to breakout. However, Washington’s catching ability may be a concern as his catch percentage was at 42 percent. That’s a statistic that is discouraging to most as he wasn’t covered as much as star receivers Brown and Smith-Schuster were this past season.
This upcoming 2019 campaign will dictate how the future will look like for the Steelers without Bell and Brown. However, if McDonald keeps the trend of him improving in almost every statistical category going into next season, he’ll prove to be a key piece in this offense. Heading into next season, McDonald will also be having the luxury of Jesse James not cutting into his targets.
A former Penn State athlete, James left for the Detroit Lions this offseason. With Smith-Schuster going to be the presumptive leader in receptions, don’t be surprised if McDonald comes second in receptions. He has the chance to surprise many with his caliber of play.
Taking a look at McDonald’s — and others — statistics
Meanwhile, McDonald could possibly end up close to the thousand yard mark. This is if Washington doesn’t cut into his targets or barring injury. McDonald’s potential big year could help the Steelers have potentially a big season all around. He could help potentially rally for a playoff push.
To see how McDonald performs will be one of the exciting reasons to tune in and see the Steelers this upcoming season. Another reason is to find out how far the Steelers can go with McDonald and others filling in the holes on offense.
Here are four players from the AFC North and their statistics, with James leading the way, in 2018. Statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference.
With 40.7 YPG on the year, you could’ve made a case that McDonald was possibly the best tight end in the AFC North with Brown and Smith-Schuster being the main focal points of the offense last year. However, don’t forget about James chipping away at McDonald’s targets, too. Remember that Brown was a target hog, and those targets will be divvied up between Smith-Schuster, McDonald and James Connor for the most part.
Thoughts on McDonald
It’s exciting to project the year McDonald could potentially have next year. Don’t be surprised if McDonald’s stats are superior to the tight ends on the other three AFC North teams.
Photo Credit: Douglas DeFelice/USA TODAY Sports.
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