Niner Noise
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49ers offensive players who have something to prove part 3: Vance McDonald, Garrett Celek, and Blake Bell

By Rich Madrid

DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 27: Vance McDonald #89 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates a first quarter touchdown against the Detroit Lions during an NFL game at Ford Field on December 27, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 27: Vance McDonald #89 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates a first quarter touchdown against the Detroit Lions during an NFL game at Ford Field on December 27, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images) /
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BUFFALO, NY – OCTOBER 16: Vance McDonald #89 of the San Francisco 49ers puts his hands on his hips after a play against the Buffalo Bills during the second half at New Era Field on October 16, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY – OCTOBER 16: Vance McDonald #89 of the San Francisco 49ers puts his hands on his hips after a play against the Buffalo Bills during the second half at New Era Field on October 16, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

While it doesn’t appear that McDonald will be cut this season, his role as TE1 should be in serious jeopardy. He’s struggled with dropped passes throughout his career since college and according to Pro Football Focus’ Jeff Deeney, cut his drop in by a little over half last season, though still finished the season with a drop rate of 8.9 percent.

The biggest issues for McDonald coming out of college was his limited ability to be an inline pass or run blocking tight end (No. 89 right side of the line in gif below) as he spent the majority of his snaps out wide, and his limited catch radius, as he struggled with catching passes any near his body, often resulting in drops:

In both the passing and running game as a blocking tight end, he has struggled immensely, earning a PFF player grade of 58.7 in pass protection (though limited to just 22 pass blocking snaps) and 50.9 in the run (ranked 29th among tight ends with minimum qualifying snaps).

But perhaps the one thing that will hold McDonald back is his limited ability for ball security in an offense that puts a premium on the tight end’s ability to make plays.

McDonald’s most well known dropped pass came during his rookie season, a pass that arguably changed the entire outcome of the 2013 season. Had he caught this pass and the 49ers went on to beat the Panthers, they would’ve had a 13-3 record, home field advantage, and probably their 6th Lombardi trophy.

That drop changed the entire the course of the next three years.

Fast forward two seasons and McDonald still has not remedied his dropped pass problem.

On these two plays against Cincinnati in 2015, his mistakes cost the offense two interceptions.

The three gifs above are just a snapshot of his drops throughout the 2016 season. Throughout 2016, McDonald dropped several other key passes in what was otherwise a wasted season anyways.

If he has the drop rate in 2017 that he had in 2016, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where he stays and finishes his contract with the 49ers beyond 2017.