Vance McDonald

Steelers' Vance McDonald to see same snaps in 2019

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Vance McDonald will not play significantly more snaps this season, according to offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner.

What It Means:

"He won't," Fichtner said in regards to McDonald seeing an expanded role in 2019. "He's never going to play the full game. That's never going to happen." McDonald played a career-high 564 snaps (54.6 percent) in 15 games last season while turning in the most productive season of his career, with 50 receptions (72 targets) for 610 yards and 4 touchdowns. Even if he were to only see a modest boost in playing time following the departure of Jesse James, McDonald is capable of returning back-end TE1 production.

McDonald is currently the TE9 in numberFire's preseason fantasy rankings. Our models expect him to catch 53.6 passes on 86.7 targets for 627.5 yards and 5.77 touchdowns in 2019.