When I watch Kelce, I feel like I am watching Zach Miller.
McDonald's game compilations ARE disappointing. I like him despite the lack of good footage for a couple of reasons. Bear with me.
If I had told you Dwayne Allen was a better pass catching TE than Coby Fleener last year, most of you would have pooped on me. For the record, I wanted Allen. Systems inflate college stats and opportunities at certain positions, and Stanford's system inflates stats and matchups opportunities for tight ends. Beware of Ertz, not only are his measurables a little off, he was in a very TE friendly system.
Rice has three tight ends whose measurables are pretty good. One of those is McDonald. I am not going to make excuses for his drops, they are a real issue and he even had a couple early on at his pro day. But Rice almost never lines up their tight ends off tackle and instead lines them up in the slot. Playing their tight ends in space was a poor idea, IMO.
I like McDonald for a few reasons. He has drop issues, true, but he also makes some spectacularly tough hands type catches. If the way he was used at Rice is any indication of coaching, perhaps his issues are coachable. He has good downfield burst, and when facing NFL caliber players at the senior bowl, he looked really good. Also, in drills he did a really good job using his routes and mass to create space for the QB to target. Seeing as we have a QB who likes to throw guys open, I like a TE whose route running shows those subtleties. Combined with long arms, big hands, and decent speed, it just feels like a Schneider pick. An 82 inch wingspan on a tight end is pretty damn long.
I like Eifert best as well, but I see no way he makes it past a handful of teams between 20 and 40. Ertz is overrated, IMO, and Kelce would be an immediate upgrade over McCoy and give us roster flex if this is Miller's last go around with the Hawks. As would McDonald. Escobar's speed does concern me, and the H-back role Scraggs or Reed would have just doesn't feel like a direction Seattle's offense is going.
SEAHAWKS.NET. We All We Got, We All We Need