A few weeks ago, tight end Vance McDonald was making a case that he might have a nice future with the 49ers.
He and quarterback Blaine Gabbert seemed to have developed a nice rapport and, after being a mostly forgotten understudy to Vernon Davis with a propensity for dropping passes, McDonald was playing a bigger role following Davis’ trade.
In two games when he was the team’s No. 1 tight end (following an injury to Garrett Celek), McDonald caught 10 of 11 passes aimed in his direction.
But then McDonald had some injury issues of his own (consussion) during the game against the Bears on Dec. 6, and he didn’t get back on the field until Sunday’s game against the Bengals at Levi’s Stadium.
Against the Bengals, however, McDonald’s old problem – the drops – returned.
He was targeted four times by Gabbert, caught just one pass and had two bounce off his hands and carom into the arms of Cincinnati defenders for interceptions.
He told Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group after the game that those turnovers were “on me.”
Sports
“I just have to execute better,” McDonald told Inman. “That’s definitely not (like) me, underperforming.”
As Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee noted, McDonald has had 27 catchable passes come his way in 2015 and has dropped five of them.. That, says Barrow, is “one of the worst rates in the league.”
For his careeer, McDonald has been targeted 61 times since his rookie season of 2013, yet has just 32 catches. Celek, by comparison, has caught 27 of 41 passes thrown his way.
As the 49ers go toward 2016, they need a dependable, playmaking tight end. Does McDonald fit that bill? So far, the answer would seem to be no.
But, he has two more games in 2015, against the Lions this coming Sunday and Rams on Jan. 3, to make a positive statement.
He told Inman his plan is to “just move on, have a short memory.”
“Just got to execute,” said McDonald. Simple little things. And I’m capable of doing it.”
