Steelers Trade acquire Vance McDonald TE for 4th round pick

dude is rock solid, im kinda excited for this

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Lack of securing those "combat catches" in addition to a lack of good blocking would be my personal guess.

 

Now we'll never find Bens replacement!

But seriously - I like the move from what I've seen of the guy. As always, we'll see....

 

Why Xman? Why not D.Johnson?

 

So by that statement how many CB'S could we see signed ? 1 for sure maybe 2 ? How many from the Safety spot ? 1 or 2 ?

If he applies the same logic to that position we should expect multiple moves at the DB position very soon as most of our DB'S have looked more like JV guys instead of Varsity guys.

 

I'd say cut Johnson, he hasn't done much..... wonder if he passes a physical.... just saw he ended his season in December 2016 due to injury.

Or I wonder if they sent the same physician that examined Ladarius Green....

 

Because Johnson is a formation specific blocking TE, if he's cut it's because McGee made the team.

Vance is a athletic pass dropper, with elite measurables. He'll stand up, play in space, run the seam.

 

I haven't been this excited since we got Lardarius Green. LOL! Really though that comment from Tomlin is pretty dang "ouch". Dude can be straight up savage when he needs to be.

 

Agree, but what to what formation are you referring? With all the 3 and 4 wide formations the Steelers run, the opportunities for a pure blocking TE are few and far between. Without DJ, Hubbard can serve as an extra TE when necessary. DJ doesn't play special teams for the most part, just 6 snaps out of 26 possible against the Colts. Not a Grimble apologist, and it would be nice to have Jake Butt waiting in the wings, but I would rather keep Grimble over DJ.

 

John Mayer has a song called "I'm Gonna Find Another You". I wish the Steelers would get a Heath Miller Fathead. Stare at it. Listen to that song. Then go and get another Heath. LOL! Really though I wonder if Heath wasn't the last of a dying breed and we may never see another of his ilk again. The league in general just seems to be going away from the traditional TE's in favor of the more "athletic" types. Not that I'm against that and especially if it helps us remain competitive but man I miss Heath.

 

The Steelers/Haley use a 12 personnel package quite often (2 TEs) and 1 has always been of the blocking variety (Spaeth, DJ)

Johnson played 20+% of the ST snaps last year.

Grimble is redundant with MacDonald on the roster

I don't get why so many people favor low end upside players for depth over veteran utility player (i.e Coates I've DHB, Grimble over DJ). Makes no sense

 

Vance has DHB hands

 

DJ lacks the cool nickname.

 

A solid player. I think it's a good trade. Sorry if ads lock in before video.
I don't like that.

 

Yeah that has gotta be it. I mean when I think of DJ I think of an 80's sitcom daughter or an 80's basketball player in short shorts but definitely not a guy lighting it up on the gridiron. I mean it COULD be that he doesn't really fit our scheme or what we're trying to do going forward but dollars to donuts I'd say it's the nickname thing for sure.

 

Lol we should run a poll and I can bet that most ppl gravitate towards James and Grimble more for the Outlaw and Xman than they do DJ because of his play.

 

Like it. Has some talent. Reasonable contract and we gave up a dozen draft spots or so.

 

We need(ed) additions at TE...only one way to solve it: bringing in new TEs.
Jesse James gets the starting spot for weeks 1-4, we test McDonald. If we're lucky than we have a solid pass catching (not dropping) TE by week 8.
Two pass catching TEs would really compliment the offense well....

 

Hubbard got more snaps at tight end than DJ last year. Hubbard is adequate as an extra blocking tight end. In the three games when Hubbard played the most at tight end, Le'Veon Bell totaled 90 carries for 496 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Yes, DJ could fill that role, but he can't play tackle.

DJ is inadequate as a receiving tight end. He's been targeted just 43 times over 5 seasons as a Steeler.

If Grimble makes the roster, he may not get a hat on game day, but he offers more flexibility if James or McDonald goes down with an injury.

I submit that the Steelers will use two TE formations less this year, reducing the need for a blocking TE. We saw a glimpse of this against the Colts, when Jesse James lined up outside the numbers. I had never noticed a tight end in a Steelers formation line up as the furthest receiver in the formation before. While James has had his troubles blocking this pre-season, he hasn't forgotten how. The issue on the strip sack was picking up the alert, not in blocking technique. A two tight end formation with McDonald and James would be adequate, certainly not bad enough to justify keeping DJ on the team for a handful of snaps a game.

Conner can take DJ's place on special teams.

 

What's funny is DJ is probably literally my least favorite Steeler of all time and the dude may very well be a solid player. I've just literally never liked him. I mean he might build orphanages and rescue puppies in his spare time but I just get triggered by simply seeing the guy. LOL! Tyrone Carter and Anthony Smith made me feel that way too.

 

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2013/profiles/vance-mcdonald?id=2540215

Looks like we got our back long snapper.

 

Nah dude those duties rests solely upon the shoulders of one James Harrison. Now that I think about it THAT is the ACTUAL reason why he trains so hard. It's not to play linebacker but to be ready to play longsnapper! DUH!

 

I would be interested to know what a S.F. board is saying about him. Are they all saying he is garbage we did not need or we never gave him a good chance and or we lost a good TE?