Could Vance McDonald be Steelers ‘Freak of the Week’?
My favorite position on the field is tight end. I think it’s because I’m always surprised when the tight end makes a big play. It’s almost like I forget that the position exists and then they make a crucial catch or block at the right moment and I find myself thinking, “Oh yeah, we have another weapon in our arsenal that I forgot about.”
My favorite tight end right now is Vance McDonald (sorry Jesse). I like Jesse James — who wouldn’t like a player named Jesse James? But honestly, I really like what I see in McDonald. It’s like watching a charging bull.
In my bio for Steel City Underground, I mentioned that I think football is like a ballet mixed with a monster truck show. There is all this grace of movement mixed with violence. With McDonald, it’s almost all monster truck. He not only consistently gets yards after the catch but he often drags a couple of defenders with him. I love that!
According to playerprofiler.com, James’ total yards after the catch after the first eight games is 167 (62 pts/target, No. 7 rank); McDonald’s is 227 (6.7 pts/target, No. 4 rank) after the first seven games. I don’t know if it’s inexperience or a lack of toughness on the part of James but McDonald seems to get more yards once the ball is in his hands. Physically, James is taller at 6-feet, 7-inches and 261 pounds versus McDonald who is 6-feet, 4 inches and 267 pounds. But, for some reason, McDonald always looks bigger on the field to me.
I was fortunate enough to be at the game in Tampa where McDonald executed a beautiful (and now infamous) stiff arm against Buccaneers safety Chris Conte where he ran over him like a practice dummy. It was awesome!
In the past five seasons in the league, McDonald has been plagued with injuries as well as hands that aren’t always reliable. Honestly, I had never heard of him until this year (don’t come at me, I’m a Grandmother!) So I went back and looked at McDonald’s numbers in the 2013 combine and I wasn’t surprised to find that he had the most reps in the bench press for the tight end position. Vance had 31 reps which was in the 97th percentile. The next closest player was Zach Ertz at 24.
Tim Tebow does a great segment on SEC Nation pregame show called the “Freak of the Week.” He highlights one player who is especially strong or fast for their position. Every time I have watched McDonald play this year he reminds me of that segment.
This past Thursday’s amazing team performance included a touchdown in the second half by McDonald in the back of the end zone. I’m hoping we see a repeat of that and more in the upcoming game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. We Steelers fans need him to be our Freak of the Week in the NFL every week!
