When Vance McDonald and Jesse James concluded a two-year collaboration at tight end in 2018, they reached a rare milestone for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With McDonald accumulating 610 receiving yards and James adding 423 more, it marked just the second time since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger that the Steelers had a tight end tandem combine for at least 1,000 receiving yards.
The first instance came 25 years earlier when Eric Green set a single-season record for a Steelers tight end with 942 yards and backup Adrian Cooper contributed 112.
It’s illustrative that even when the Steelers employed Heath Miller for 13 years or had the sure-handed duo of Bennie Cunningham and Randy Grossman in the late 1970s, they were unable to reach the 1,000-yard plateau.
After witnessing a significant drop-off in tight end production last season, the Steelers prioritized the position as one needing an upgrade, and they signed free agent Eric Ebron from the Indianapolis Colts with that goal in mind.
Ebron is two years removed from a Pro Bowl season and will be teamed with McDonald to give the Steelers a 1-2 tight-end punch that was lacking last season following James’ departure to the Detroit Lions.
“We know that he and Vance McDonald are the type of duo that are capable of creating issues for people with their talents,” coach Mike Tomlin said on a recent conference call with Steelers Nation Huddle members. “We’re excited about having those guys, and we’ll sort out the usage of those guys week to week.
“We know invariably that those guys and other have a chance to really make us versatile and make us an issue for those teams we play against.”
In 2018, with McDonald, James and occasionally Xavier Grimble leading the way, Steelers tight ends produced 86 receptions, which ranked No. 7 in the league, and 1,119 yards, which was fifth. Their six touchdowns was good for a No. 12 ranking. *
Last year, the Steelers opened the season with McDonald and Grimble as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s main two options. Then, Roethlisberger went down with his right elbow injury and the tight end production — much like at other spots on the Steelers offense — nosedived.
McDonald had nine catches for 78 yards in the two games with Roethlisberger and then 29 receptions for 195 yards the rest of the way while playing through injuries and with Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges throwing the passes. Grimble had one catch in three games, landed on injured reserve and was released. The Steelers traded a fifth-round pick to Seattle for Nick Vannett, and he totaled 13 catches for 128 yards in 13 games.
Add it up and the Steelers’ 53 catches ranked No. 25 in the league, their 408 receiving yards were dead last and their three touchdowns tied for No. 26.
“It’s important you have quality depth and good players all around,” Tomlin said. “Injury is part of the game and people are going to miss time. You want to be able to create unique personnel groups and matchup issues for those you are competing against. We are excited about having Ebron in that mix.”
The Steelers used a true rotational system with McDonald and James in 2018, which was a concession to having wide receivers Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schusters on the field for most snaps. The Steelers used the “12” personnel — one running back, two receivers and two tight ends — on just 9% of all offensive snaps that year.
With Brown gone last season and the Steelers mixing in James Washington and rookie Diontae Johnson into the offensive flow, they increased their two tight-end usage to 20% of the snaps in “12” personnel.
Having Ebron, who had 66 catches for 750 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2018, on the roster, the Steelers may be inclined to increase their amount of two tight-end packages in 2020. That could be particularly true in the red zone, where the Steelers ranked last in 2019 without Roethlisberger.
Ebron, like McDonald, is 6-foot-4. And the Steelers drafted a tall wide receiver, Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool, in the second round to provide another tall target for Roethlisberger.
“We’re anxious to see what (Ebron) can do,” general manager Kevin Colbert said in a recent interview with 105.9 FM. “I’m sure Ben is anxious to get with him and work with him to see what he can do. That will be another red-zone type of contribution much like Claypool might be. They have the size. They have the athleticism.
“You’re going to need to have those contested catch guys in those confined areas.”
Ebron is a contrast to McDonald in that he is known more for his aversion to blocking than a willingness to do the dirty work in the trenches. It wasn’t a necessity in Indianapolis in 2018 when Ebron’s 750 yards ranked fifth among all tight ends and he ranked fifth with 11.4 yards-per-catch and had the seventh-most yards after the catch at the position.
His quarterback, mainly Andrew Luck, had a 110.0 passer rating on throws to Ebron. Only Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce produced a better number. That changed, however, last year without Luck throwing him the football. Although he ranked ninth in yards-per-catch (12.1), he tailed off to No. 25 in yards after the catch and was No. 39 with an 80.0 QB rating before he finished the season on injured reserve.
The hope for the Steelers is that Ebron’s numbers will rebound with Roethlisberger throwing the passes this season.
“We do have a comfort with Eric Ebron because he does have some unique receiving skills,” Colbert said. “This game is more about throwing than it is running. You do have to run and you do want those tight ends to block, but when they are exceptional receivers like Ebron is, I think it gives us another dimension that we really didn’t have in the past.”
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at jrutter@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL
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