So far, 49ers Blaine Gabbert has struggled. In helping his team to a win and loss over two games, he’s completed just 54.9 percent of his throws, which ranks 31st in the NFL.
He’s also averaging just 5.8 yards per pass attempt, the second-worst average in the league.
This week, head coach Chip Kelly noted Gabbert is not at the level where he is achieving “repetitive accuracy.”
Yet one 49er who has prospered since Gabbert took over the starting quarterback job last season is tight end Vance McDonald.
Gabbert and McDonald have developed a rapport that has brought out the best in the fourth-year player and second-round pick from 2013.
McDonald was a disappointment his first two seasons, with just 10 catches combined in 2013 and 2014 and with a penchant for drops.
But over the course of the second half of last season, McDonald caught 25 passes from Gabbert en route to the best year of his career: 30 total catches for 326 yards and three touchdowns.
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Now, this season, he’s making an impact again. McDonald has just three catches on five targets combined in a win over the Rams and a loss to Carolina, but two of those were for touchdowns, including a 75-yard scoring play vs. the Panthers last week.
Though his production has been up the past two seasons when paired with Gabbert, he still has had his problems. He was credited with five dropped passes last season.
This year, McDonald said his goal was to play at a higher level from start to finish.
“My word is consistency,” he told reporters. Offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins in training camp said he liked what he’s seen from McDonald.
“Vance has made some plays for us and hopefully he’ll continue,” he said.
Through two games, that’s been the case. But McDonald wants to be good for 16 games, not just two. He says Kelly’s message to his team in training camp that everyone needs to have a positive, productive attitude resonated with him.
“It’s a mindset,” McDonald told Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com recently. “You can control your attitude. I’ve heard that before but for some reason, when he said it, we have come in here every single day with a positive attitude and the mindset of working and focusing on what little detail can I get and take hold of that day and accomplish?”
So far, so good.
