What he brings: McDonald has trouble separating from man coverage at times because he's tight changing directions, but his burst is impressive both when attacking the seam and after the catch. There are concerns about his hands after an underwhelming Senior Bowl week, but he's not afraid to work the middle and can make tough catches. He just needs to become more consistent in that area.
How he fits: We knew the 49ers would address this position early in the draft with the loss in free agency of Delanie Walker to Tennessee. More than any other offense in the NFL, they love multi-tight end packages and the ability to be exotic in personnel groupings. While McDonald doesn't have the athleticism and big-play capability of Vernon Davis, he can certainly help as either an in-line or motion player. He can also be a good contributor in the short-to-intermediate passing game. What may be a sneaky strength of this pick is that it will allow the 49ers to use multiple tight ends to force defenses to play sub packages -- then they can come back and run the ball. Those are the kinds of things this coaching staff loves to do.