The Pittsburgh Steelers have a major set challenges facing them for the offseason of 2019 after they managed to miss the postseason for the first time in five years. The failure has been taken especially grievously because of the fact that the team was in position to control their own fate even for homefield advantage with six games remaining before dropping four games.
And so they find themselves getting the exit meeting process underway at least two weeks earlier than they have had to in years, since they have made it to at least the Divisional Round since 2015. Hopefully they used those extra two weeks with purpose.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between Head Coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2018 season.
Player: Vance McDonald
Position: Tight End
Experience: 6 Years
The Pittsburgh Steelers got out of tight end Vance McDonald in 2018 the sort of production that they envisioned from him, and from the position, when they chose to trade for him and his contract the previous summer. Even if it took an extra game for him to get on the field.
Following a first season in Pittsburgh that got off to a late start because of the August trade and a rash of separate injuries, we heard groans throughout training camp after McDonald suffered a foot injury that knocked him out. He missed the season opener but it wasn’t long before he made a big impact.
It was in Week Three against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that he would make a highlight-reel play that was replayed throughout the week on the 24-hour sports networks, leveling a defender with a violent stiff-arm and running for a 75-yard touchdown. He would got for over 100 yards in the game.
McDonald would finish the season with 50 receptions for 610 yards and four touchdowns, and frankly there is still a good amount more meat on the bone. He split a good amount of snaps with Jesse James, receiving a total of 67 targets. If the team ends up trading Antonio Brown, don’t be surprised if he gets even more looks.
The only real problem is that he fumbled, which was tied for the most in the league by the position. He cleaned up a lot of his drops from the previous season and earlier in his career (though he still had a few), but hopefully the fumbles prove to be a fluke.
And it of course has to be mentioned that McDonald is not just a receiving tight end but also a legitimately good blocker. I did think he had a couple of rough games, but he remains one of the most complete tight ends in the league, and that’s starting to become more obvious in the right offense with health on his side.
