What You Need To Know:

• Ebron came back to earth after a massive 2018. His season also ended with surgery on both of his ankles, an issue that lingered into May.
• Pittsburgh signed Ebron to a 2-year deal in March. He’s expected to beat out Vance McDonald for the lead TE role.
• With McDonald remaining involved, Ebron looks like a strict TE2 — especially as a joins a new team during a truncated offseason.

Injury-shortened 2019

Ebron was an obvious regression candidate last season.

2018 featured career highs across the board: 110 targets, 66 catches, 750 yards and 13 TDs. He scored on all 10 of his red zone catches.

Ebron’s impending regression became even more obvious when Andrew Luck retired last August. Jacoby Brissett showed glimpses of strong play — yet the difference between the two proved clear.

And that impacted Ebron, whose offseason already started on the wrong foot with groin surgery. Across 11 appearances — a career low — he managed just 31 catches for 375 yards and 3 TDs. Ebron ranked 9th at the position in yards per route run but topped 5 targets just once (12 in Week 10 vs. Miami, with T.Y. Hilton and Parris Campbell sidelined).

He missed the final 5 games with an injury to his ankles. He later underwent surgery on both.

Another new home

Ebron joined Pittsburgh in March on a 2-year deal. He received a relatively light $5 million in guarantees; 24th among TEs, per Over the Cap.

Still, he’s expected to take the lead role away from Vance McDonald.

"He’s a super-talented pass receiving tight end," GM Kevin Colbert said of Ebron. "He had some injury issues last year. But when he is healthy, he really did some nice things, especially the year he had Andrew Luck playing with him. There’s definitely athleticism. There’s red zone production. There’s run after the catch. He’s really a premier kind of receiving tight end in this league when he’s healthy.

That last line is particula…