What You Need To Know:

• McDonald missed 2 games with a concussion in 2019.
• When active, he made little headway with backup QBs Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges. His 7.2 yards per catch easily set a career low.
• 2020 doesn’t look like a bounce back year after the Steelers signed Eric Ebron to a 2-year deal.

Non-factor

McDonald rarely delivered in fantasy for an often unwatchable Pittsburgh offense last year.

Ben Roethlisberger went down in Week 2 with a season-ending elbow injury. Given awful play from backups Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges, McDonald totaled only 38 catches, 273 yards and 3 scores across 14 games.

Yep — 7.2 yards per catch for someone with McDonald’s athleticism…

His lack of production is startling when you consider he ran the 9th most routes among TEs (394). According to Pro Football Focus,McDonald’s 0.60 yards per route run ranked last among 35 TEs with 40+ targets. Quite a departure from 2018 when he ranked 13th among 28 qualifiers. McDonald also tallied 12.2 yards per catch that year.

So, yes, poor QB play is the main reason why McDonald crossed 7 fantasy points just twice. It’s worth noting, though, that he missed 2 games due to a concussion. It’s the second such injury that’s been reported in his pro career.

With Roethlisberger back for his age-38 season, can we expect a rebound from McDonald?

New arrival

The answer might have been yes had Pittsburgh not signed former Colts and Lions TE Eric Ebron.

But they did. In the process, they handed over a 2-year, $12 million contract. That says they expect him to fill the lead role. After all, the 27-year-old is just a year removed from posting 66-750-13 as a year 1 Colt. Of course, that came alongside Andrew Luck, who abruptly retired last August.

If there’s an optimistic angle for McDonald, it’s the fact that Ebron’s coming off ankle surgery. He made only 11 appearances in 2019, although he’s expected to be 100% for t…