This isn't as much a position battle to watch as it as a declaration that we need to keep tabs on Vance McDonald. Because if all goes well in training camp, he could be a late-round steal.
McDonald underwhelmed in 2017 after joining the Steelers late, but part of that was due to injuries. He came on toward the end of the season, playing 87% of the snaps in the team's playoff loss to the Jaguars while netting a whopping 16 targets. We don't want to overreact to a one-game sample, but that's not the only thing in McDonald's corner.
Morgan Burnett and Sean Davis open up as starting safeties. Vance McDonald at TE.
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) July 26, 2018
4. Roethlisberger said he expects to "see more" from tight end Vance McDonald if he stays healthy. Noted that fit in a lot of sets — split out wide, in tight, etc.
"I think Vance is a unique type of animal," Roethlisberger said. "I think we can use him in different ways."
— Michael McCleary (@MikeJMcCleary) July 27, 2018
We have to be careful about buying into what Ben Roethlisberger says after he talked up Martavis Bryant during the season last year, but seeing McDonald working with the first-team offense is huge.
McDonald is in an offense that will score touchdowns, which is what we want out of a tight end. His floor is capped due to the other mouths that need to be fed, but he should be a consistent threat to find the end zone. As long as he keeps getting these high-leverage reps, he's easily worth his cost in the 14th round and should jump even a bit higher than that.