Vance

[NinerSickness]

How are the Niners going to use him this season?

Crabtree has a lot of drops early on in his career, but now he has excellent hands IMO. If Vance can show that his hands are better, I don't see any reason why he can't play more FB this year. Especially near the end zone. I love Bruce Miller, but Vance is a bigger threat receiving.

Maybe the Niners run some 2TE sets & shift by putting Vernon in the slot, which would make it a 3 WR set w/ Vance at TE.

 

[Jikkle]

Vance McDonald Sees Himself as ?Different Player?

He seems poised to have a bigger impact than he did last season and if I recalled both Davis and Walker had tough 1st years in our system so the system we run seems to have a high learning curve for TE.

My guess is he isn't going to be any more than the 2nd TE in jumbo formations. It's debatable if he'll be better than the Davis, Crabs, Boldin, and Johnson combo in passing situations.

But hopefully we'll pass more out of our running formations and have a trio of Davis, Vance, and Crabtree out there on those type of plays.

 

[BloodType49]

Cant be much worse from a pass catching standpoint.

 

[Badger8843]

He has the physical tools to be good

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I'm cautiously optimistic about Vance. He reminds me a little bit of Brent Jones in that he's a big, physical guy who doesn't look crazy athletic - frankly looks a bit awkward at times, but has a kind of smoothness despite it. I view Witten in a somewhat similar light, and I think Vance could offer similar things at some point. He seemed to be thinking too much at times last year, but he's got talent. He was a better receiver than Willson in college, and Willson had a nice rookie year for the Hawks. I think Vance has some upside, and I hope we do more to tap into it this year.

This team has a ton of receiving options. Ultimately it's up to Kap to take advantage of them. Though in this case, Vance has to improve his consistency as well.

 

[dredinis21]

Vance split out wide as one of the 4-WR in Rice's 4-WR sets so the guy has some hands. I think last year had more to do with Vance learning the intricacies of the offense and his role in it. Remember, when he was drafted, people wanted him to take over the swiss army knife position that was Delanie Walker's role in the offense.

 

[Badger8843]

I'm cautiously optimistic about Vance. He reminds me a little bit of Brent Jones in that he's a big, physical guy who doesn't look crazy athletic - frankly looks a bit awkward at times, but has a kind of smoothness despite it. I view Witten in a somewhat similar light, and I think Vance could offer similar things at some point. He seemed to be thinking too much at times last year, but he's got talent. He was a better receiver than Willson in college, and Willson had a nice rookie year for the Hawks. I think Vance has some upside, and I hope we do more to tap into it this year.

This team has a ton of receiving options. Ultimately it's up to Kap to take advantage of them. Though in this case, Vance has to improve his consistency as well.

I also think a Witten type

 

[NinerSickness]

 

[sjballer03]

I also think a Witten type

Because he's a white TE like Vance? Lol sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[willtalk]

Not holding my breath in respect to Vance becoming a trusted agent.

 

[DoobieKeebler]

I don't know about Vance.

He looked good when he actually caught the ball, and he was a better blocker than I thought he'd be, but I'd much rather see something from Derek Carrier in the passing catcher TE role. The only time I was really excited when Vance did something was when he ran over Richard Sherman.

 

[deep9er]

I don't know about Vance.

He looked good when he actually caught the ball, and he was a better blocker than I thought he'd be, but I'd much rather see something from Derek Carrier in the passing catcher TE role. The only time I was really excited when Vance did something was when he ran over Richard Sherman.

if someone beats out Vance, then go with that guy.

but even Vernon Davis took time to produce - relative to his draft position - so not worrying about Vance yet. if he's still in the same place or similar place after this season, THEN we have a serious concern.

also, not surprising we'd rather have Davis get most of the reps anyway, so not expecting a big jump in stats. but do 'flash' some receiving skills.

 

[Yoshi]

Minicamp Day 1: 49ers' new-look offense? | CSN Bay Area

--Tight end Vance McDonald moves up to the No. 1 slot with Davis’ absence. Here’s what Roman had to say about his contribution last season: “(He) was instrumental in our rushing attack. Didn’t have a lot of opportunities in the passing game. That will probably pick up more.”

He should get more opportunities to catch the ball, considering he caught just nine passes in 19 games, including the postseason. He had a couple of opportunities in 7-on-7 drills, but dropped darts from Josh Johnson and Colin Kaepernick.

 

[Yoshi]

Minicamp Day 2: Young WRs look like keepers | CSN Bay Area

With Derek Carrier sitting out with a slight hamstring strain, rookie tight ends Asante Cleveland and Kevin Greene saw a lot of action and were more involved in the passing game than Vance McDonald or Garrett Celek.

Why were they more involved than Vance?

 

[NinerSickness]

Because he's a white TE like Vance? Lol sorry, I couldn't resist.

I think he's more like a Rob Gronkowski or a Tyler Eifert or maybe a Greg Olsen or Owen Daniels. Or Dennis Pitta.

Kyle Rudolph. That's the guy. I see a lot of Rudolph in him. Or Coby Fleener.

 

[49ermann]

The game just seemed too fast for him last year. He's got the physical tools, he went to Rice so he's not dumb. Hopefully he just needed an off season for the game to slow down.

Vance looks smooth and seems to have more than enough speed and size. He's taller than Vernon and should provide a good security blanket for Kaep.

 

[Jtymer49er]

With the new cba limiting practices most rookies struggle their first year. I believe Vance will turn into a nice starting tight end in the future.

 

[deep9er]

With the new cba limiting practices most rookies struggle their first year. I believe Vance will turn into a nice starting tight end in the future.

I would expect he becomes a nice starting tight end THIS season? at least have the ability to become one, should we need it.

otherwise, I'd expect his receiving side will show up now even with limited reps.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I would expect he becomes a nice starting tight end THIS season? at least have the ability to become one, should we need it.

otherwise, I'd expect his receiving side will show up now even with limited reps.

I think it'll be tough for Vance to show too much as a receiver so long as Davis is playing. Delanie Walker, who was 10th in receptions (60), tied for 16th in yards (571), and tied for 8th in TDs (6) - as in, he's a solid starting receiving TE - topped out with 21 receptions for 344 yards and 3 TDs under this coaching staff. We just don't use that position for receiving all that much, and if anything, I expect will use it less (proportionally) this year with a very good stable of backs and a lot of depth at WR.

I would hope McDonald puts up numbers close to what Walker did in his last year while showing some more consistency, but even those numbers might be out of reach.

 

[deep9er]

I think it'll be tough for Vance to show too much as a receiver so long as Davis is playing. Delanie Walker, who was 10th in receptions (60), tied for 16th in yards (571), and tied for 8th in TDs (6) - as in, he's a solid starting receiving TE - topped out with 21 receptions for 344 yards and 3 TDs under this coaching staff. We just don't use that position for receiving all that much, and if anything, I expect will use it less (proportionally) this year with a very good stable of backs and a lot of depth at WR.

I would hope McDonald puts up numbers close to what Walker did in his last year while showing some more consistency, but even those numbers might be out of reach.

yes, Vance won't have many reps and not saying he'll have big stats. but he should show well - flash the talent - in the reps he does get. if he only gets 20 catchable balls for the season, I'd expect he'd catch most if not all?