Vance "Beastmode" McDonald Thread

I think his talent wasn't addressed at all with the play calling.

Originally posted by sacniner:

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:
Decent read. Hopefully he gets targeted a few times a game next year. I still think he can be a huge weapon.

Why do a lot of you guys think he can be a "huge weapon" in the NFL? That's a big statement. What has he shown for us to conclude that? His speed is below average at this level, his hands haven't translated. I just don't get how you can feel that way right now.

He's a rookie, so the idea that his hands haven't "translated" isn't disturbing to me. He had all of 19 passes thrown his way. I don't see how anyone can be certain of what a guy will become, whether its a good player or a bad one, when he's only had 19 passes thrown his way. In college, he was known as more of a receiver, so I'm willing to give it some time so his talent can shine through. The other reason is that because of the way the 49ers use their offensive players, he's one of the many guys would get favorable looks when going out for passes (the other guys being any of our receivers not named Boldin or Crabtree and any running back going out for a pass). So it's on Greg Roman and Colin Kaepernick to ensure that he's a regular part of the rotation.

Here's his draft profile http://www.nfl.com/draft/2013/profiles/vance-mcdonald?id=2540215. His issues as a blocker are coachable and they have worked on that this season. The issues with the drops are alarming, but hey the guy he is replacing wasn't exactly known for his great hands. How did you come to the conclusion that his speed was below average? If anything, it's above average for a TE and for a guy his size, he can create some serious matchup problems. My use of the words huge weapon is in the same way we used Brent Jones. He kept the chains moving, was good to average 10-11 yards per catch which would be a perfect complement to the big play ability of Vernon Davis. I don't think 20 to 30 receptions next year is an unrealistic expectation given his abilities.

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
I think his talent wasn't addressed at all with the play calling.

Agree. In college, he was basically a big slot WR masquerading as a TE. His strength is creating mismatches in the middle of the field due to his unusual mobility for a guy his size. I don't care who you are, when you run 200 routes and almost never see a pass thrown to you, it effects your game. If McDonald is going to be on the field that much, he has to be utilized both as a receiver and blocker. You have to make the defense account for every possible pass-catcher.

Originally posted by SofaKing:

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:

I think his talent wasn't addressed at all with the play calling.

Agree. In college, he was basically a big slot WR masquerading as a TE. His strength is creating mismatches in the middle of the field due to his unusual mobility for a guy his size. I don't care who you are, when you run 200 routes and almost never see a pass thrown to you, it effects your game. If McDonald is going to be on the field that much, he has to be utilized both as a receiver and blocker. You have to make the defense account for every possible pass-catcher.

Yes, not getting the ball to the TE was extremely poor judgement by Roman, Harbs, and Kap. It's a no-brainer that you get your big TE a few balls to keep the D honest; and also to develop your player. It's usually an easy throw, Steve Young said throwing to the TE is the best way to get the QB confidence and get his throwing rhythm going. Very lame play-calling.

we're lucky we took vance over luke wilson

Originally posted by SofaKing:

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
I think his talent wasn't addressed at all with the play calling.

Agree. In college, he was basically a big slot WR masquerading as a TE. His strength is creating mismatches in the middle of the field due to his unusual mobility for a guy his size. I don't care who you are, when you run 200 routes and almost never see a pass thrown to you, it effects your game. If McDonald is going to be on the field that much, he has to be utilized both as a receiver and blocker. You have to make the defense account for every possible pass-catcher.

When you have Kap stare at Crab or Boldin on the other side he won't get many passes. He was open a lot when I was watching all year long. Hopefully Kap will see more of the field. The whole field and the big picture.

Yep shame on Roman for not getting McDonald (and James) involved more in the pass gaming. We mostly used him for blocking and the guy was probably open a lot because teams didn't bother to guard him. Instead of long passes we should have been having him do short underneath stuff and letting him use his body to shield defenders. He can be a great safety blanket and a good guy to help move the chains. Roman just has to get him more involved and not make him block all the time. Kap has to also look his way and McDonald can help out by hitting the jugs machine hard this offseason. Until he starts catching some of those deep passes he dropped last year Kap probably won't look his way unfortunately. He should take a step up this upcoming year.

Originally posted by Gore_21:
Yep shame on Roman for not getting McDonald (and James) involved more in the pass gaming. We mostly used him for blocking and the guy was probably open a lot because teams didn't bother to guard him. Instead of long passes we should have been having him do short underneath stuff and letting him use his body to shield defenders. He can be a great safety blanket and a good guy to help move the chains. Roman just has to get him more involved and not make him block all the time. Kap has to also look his way and McDonald can help out by hitting the jugs machine hard this offseason. Until he starts catching some of those deep passes he dropped last year Kap probably won't look his way unfortunately. He should take a step up this upcoming year.

I agree with a lot of those. It is hard to call the guy a bust IMO as he was open most of the year if you really watch the games. Plus we threw him 1 or 0 passes in a lot of games. We rarely if ever threw to him. I'm not going to call a guy a bust if we don't even throw to him and he's not involved in the gameplan. That's Roman and Kaep needs to see the field better and find alternate receivers. It never did make sense to me to send him deep on every play. A rookie learning the system and and you send him on deep bombs every time on the very few times you use him? What?..... I would like to see him used on 3 - 5 yard dump offs on plays where he can truck guys like Richard Sherman which he showed he can do. I think this will play more into his strengths and it will allow him to build up his confidence level and get a better rapport with Kaep. But this assumes Kaep will (1) see his checkdowns and (2) actually use his checkdowns. Neither of which he does right now.

Hard to get McDonald involved when he drops so many passes. I wonder if that has to do with him not getting that many looks.

Originally posted by WeDidIt:
Hard to get McDonald involved when he drops so many passes. I wonder if that has to do with him not getting that many looks.

They would throw to him like 1 a game and usually some complicated deep ball route. It's hard to say the guy can't catch if the 1 time a game he gets a bomb that he doesn't bring in.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
They would throw to him like 1 a game and usually some complicated deep ball route. It's hard to say the guy can't catch if the 1 time a game he gets a bomb that he doesn't bring in.

Fair enough, but he's still supposed to catch the ball when it comes his way and he's dropped the ball too much in critical games. I think it was the game against the Panthers or thhe Saints where he had a costly drop that cost us the game and home field advantage..and possibly another SB appearance. Hope he shows up next year.

Originally posted by WeDidIt:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
They would throw to him like 1 a game and usually some complicated deep ball route. It's hard to say the guy can't catch if the 1 time a game he gets a bomb that he doesn't bring in.

Fair enough, but he's still supposed to catch the ball when it comes his way and he's dropped the ball too much in critical games. I think it was the game against the Panthers or thhe Saints where he had a costly drop that cost us the game and home field advantage..and possibly another SB appearance. Hope he shows up next year.

The need to get him involved in 3 to 5 yard dump off check downs where he can catch it easily and truck guys like Richard Sherman. He showed he can do this. It plays more to his strengths and it will build his confidence and rapport with Kaepernick.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
The need to get him involved in 3 to 5 yard dump off check downs where he can catch it easily and truck guys like Richard Sherman. He showed he can do this. It plays more to his strengths and it will build his confidence and rapport with Kaepernick.

Agreed. But it appears that the coaching staff struggles to get certain players involved. Hopefully that changes next year.

Originally posted by WeDidIt:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
The need to get him involved in 3 to 5 yard dump off check downs where he can catch it easily and truck guys like Richard Sherman. He showed he can do this. It plays more to his strengths and it will build his confidence and rapport with Kaepernick.

Agreed. But it appears that the coaching staff struggles to get certain players involved. Hopefully that changes next year.

It would helpful to get more people involved. You can't just go to the same people over and over. It would make our team much more dangerous and balanced. I would like to see some more spreading the ball around next year.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by WeDidIt:
Hard to get McDonald involved when he drops so many passes. I wonder if that has to do with him not getting that many looks.

They would throw to him like 1 a game and usually some complicated deep ball route. It's hard to say the guy can't catch if the 1 time a game he gets a bomb that he doesn't bring in.

His catching problems were similar at Rice, so lets not be so quick to blame the Niners mmmkay SD? I know that's the mode you are in as it IS that time of the year for you, but it's not like he didn't drops balls at important times at Rice as well.