With Vance McDonald out, Steelers' Nick Vannett looks to prove himself

Nick Vannett impressed the Pittsburgh Steelers with how quickly he adapted to a new offense after being acquired in September in a trade with Seattle.

Since then, the fourth-year tight end’s opportunities have been limited to mostly a blocking role.

That should change Sunday night, as Vannett is expected to start for the Steelers (8-5) against the Buffalo Bills (9-4) at Heinz Field. Vance McDonald has been ruled out with a concussion he suffered at Arizona.

“It’s a great opportunity for me,” Vannett said. “I’m looking forward to it, to prove to my teammates that they can trust me and prove to everybody in this organization that they can rely on me to get the job done.”

The Steelers sent a 2020 fifth-round draft pick to the Seahawks for Vannett on Sept. 25, just two weeks after he had one catch for 13 yards against them at Heinz Field. Vannett made a strong first impression when he had two catches for 28 yards against the Cincinnati Bengals despite only three days of practice.

“What amazed me about Nick in the first place was his ability to grasp the offense right away,” Steelers tight end Zach Gentry said. “He came in on a short week against Cincinnati and had very few mental errors in the game. He’s just a real well-rounded tight end. There’s not a lot of holes in his game.”

A third-round pick out of Ohio State in 2016, Vannett had 48 catches for 463 yards and four touchdowns with Seattle, including 29 catches for 269 yards and three touchdowns last season.

Vannett has averaged 31 snaps a game for the Steelers but has only seven receptions (on 10 targets) for 70 yards as the tight ends have helped more with pass blocking to protect young quarterbacks Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges.

“I do it in practice all the time, so I think they know what I’m capable of,” Vannett said. “You don’t always see it in games. … I’m excited for this opportunity to prove what I can do, what I have been doing in practice onto the field in a game.”

The same goes for Gentry, a 6-foot-8, 265-pound rookie fifth-round pick from Michigan who is expected to play in two-tight end sets. He has been inactive for 10 games and has played only 35 snaps in three games this season, so Gentry still is looking for his first NFL catch.

“We’ll see how it goes, if the ball flows our way, but I think we’re both prepared for the blocking,” Gentry said. “It would be really neat to get some passes.”

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