The San Francisco 49ers have been amongst the teams at the forefront of a revolution in the tight end (TE) position witnessed in the NFL over recent seasons. As the NFL moves further and further towards being a pass-first league, the humble tight end is becoming ever-more valuable in modern offenses.
High profile athletes now rack up impressive yardage and touchdown totals that are on par with many of the top wide receivers in the league.
The 49ers helped to pioneer this trend with the addition of Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker to their side over the past several seasons. Davis has broken team records for touchdowns and yards gained by a tight end, whilst at the same time providing excellent blocking abilities which have helped him become an athlete who can play every down of a football game.
With Delanie Walker, the 49ers had arguably the best #2 tight end in the league and a highly acclaimed ‘swiss army knife’ who lined up across the line of scrimmage and even in the backfield. Walker left for the Tennessee Titans in 2013 and the 49ers tight end depth chart has never been the same since, even if many of his duties have been ably picked up by fullback Bruce Miller.
Vernon Davis has been described as the most athletically gifted player at in position in the NFL. Possessing elite speed and superhuman levels of strength, Davis has worked hard since entering the league to improve his pass catching and blocking techniques, making him into the prototype new-era tight end that more teams are now coveting.
However, 2014 has seen a dramatic drop in the performance of the star TE.
So far in the thirteen games that he has started during the 2014 season, number eighty-five has gained only 236 yards receiving which calculates out to just over 18 yards per game. Alongside this low yardage output Davis has just two touchdowns, both of which came in week one of the season, although he did have a 63 yard touchdown nullified against the Chargers in week 16 due to a chop-block penalty at the line of scrimmage. In 2013, he had a record-breaking thirteen regular season touchdowns as well as 850 receiving yards.
The percentage of passes that Davis has caught compared to those thrown his way has dropped by over 6% between this year and last, which is another significant reduction. As is the fact that the YAC (yards after the catch) figures for Davis have more than halved in twelve months. Averaging 4.8YAC per catch in 2013, this year Davis is only achieving 2.1YAC.
He has been on the field for over 88% of the snaps this year, but has been targeted less than four times a game. Whether this is due to a change in the offensive scheme, offensive line issues that lead to less time for Kaepernick to find his target, or a loss of confidence in Davis as a receiver, it is hard to tell, but the facts show that he is being thrown to a lot less this year than last, so not all of his performance issues can be attributed to him alone.
(Washington Post, 2014)
Sadly, its not just in the receiving game where Vernon Davis is struggling. Usually a strong point, the blocking performance of the tight end has taken a nose dive too. Davis has compiled a run-block Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade of -9.9 in 2014. In contrast, through the first 13 starts of the 2013 campaign his run block grade was +5.0. Quite a drop.
After sitting out games due to back problems, it would not surprise me to find out at the end of the season that Davis has been hindered, possibly quite heavily, by health issues throughout the season. How else can you explain such a difference in receiving and blocking performances between last year and this? I certainly would not believe that it has been performed on purpose by a disgruntled player who is upset at not receiving a contract extension, as Davis has too much integrity and love for his colleagues to do such a thing.
Could it be a coaching issue that has created this dramatic decline? Eric Mangini was promoted to Tight Ends Coach for this season, which has coincided with the dropoff in performances. Are the two facts related in anyway? Its impossible to know, but there are certain factions of the fanbase who are decidedly upset with the ex-Browns head coach being given a coaching role this year.
Behind Vernon Davis on the depth chart, a series of adverse events and underperformance have blighted the 49er tight ends during 2014.
Vance McDonald was chosen in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft out of Rice University. With freakish size, speed and a natural catching ability, it was hoped, nee expected that McDonald would progress into Vernon Davis 2.0.
After a decidedly average first season, McDonald put in a couple of outstanding performances during the 2014 preseason and hopes were high that he would continue this progression into the regular season. But apart from making strides in his blocking duties, McDonald struggled to perform this year, only gaining thirty yards on two receptions in eight games. His season was cut short when he was placed on Injured Reserve (IR) on December the 9th with a back injury.
(Gamedayr, 2014)
The teams third tight end for most of the season had been Derrick Carrier. The undrafted free agent had shown flashes of big-catch ability during the preseason but was used sparingly once the regular season started, mainly due to the reduced requirement of a third tight end in the 49ers offensive scheme. In week 12 Carrier sustained a foot injury and as a result of this, was placed on IR on the day before Thanksgiving. With Carrier on IR and McDonald nursing a back injury which eventually caused him to have his season cut short, the 49ers called up Garrett Celek from the Physically-Unable-to-Perform (PUP) list and Asante Cleveland from the practice squad to bolster the depth chart.
Garrett Celek was originally the third choice tight end for the 49ers but was placed on the PUP list before even the first preseason game had been played after becoming injured in the offseason workout program. The brother of Eagles tight end Brent Celek, Garrett would see playing time in just three games before being placed on IR himself, suffering from an ankle injury that he picked up in the week 15 loss to Seattle.
So, with one game left to play in the 2014 season, the 49ers have just two healthy tight ends: Vernon Davis and fifth choice Asante Cleveland. For a team that not so long ago had two TEs that gave opposing defenses headaches, the fall in production from the position is staggering to say the least.
With Davis signed through to the end of next season and McDonald still on his rookie contract, chances are that the top of the positional depth chart will not be changing for next season.
This is of course, unless the front office decides that it makes more fiscal sense to cut ties with Davis, either via trading him or releasing him, to save some of the $7,000,000+ of cap hit that he will generate if still on the roster for the start of the 2015 season, albeit with a $2million amount of dead money. For such an elite player who has produced mightily for the team in the recent past (2014 aside), I cannot see the 49ers cutting ties with him, but funnier things have happened.
McDonald will get another chance to prove himself next year, but I would not be surprised if the 49ers looked at tight ends in the upper half of the draft in April next year, as if McDonald fails again and the team do not retain Vernon Davis for whatever reason, the 49ers will have no tight ends on the roster that can give their opposition trouble, unless Carrier or Celek make the large step up into being of #1 TE calibre.
The tight end position and depth chart is certainly one of the areas of the 49ers that will be intriguing to watch throughout the coming months.
Photograph references
Vernon Davis, Washington Post, viewed 20 December 2014, < http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_908w/2010-2019/Wires/Images/2014-11-09/AP/49ers_Saints_Football-08163.jpg&w=1484 >
Vernon Davis Vance McDonald, Gamedayr, viewed 20 December 2014, < http://gamedayrcom.c.presscdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/vernon-davis-vance-mcdonald.jpg >
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