FSU football: Impact of TE Camren McDonald returning for 2022 season

FSU football received some great news Friday night when senior tight end Camren McDonald announced he plans to return for the 2022 season.

McDonald is the third upper-classman to announce his return with senior defensive tackle Robert Cooper and linebacker Amari Gainer.

All three players were four-star recruits in the 2018 recruiting class. FSU fans patiently wait to find out the verdict for two more players who could return next year in Fabien Lovett and Jammie Robinson.

McDonald announced via his Twitter account:

Camren McDonald has turned into a serviceable tight end over the past two seasons after not much playing time behind Tre McKitty and Gabe Nabers.

McDonald had 23 receptions for 263 yards and two touchdowns in the COVID shortened 2020 season. McDonald turned in a career-high 24 receptions in 12 games last season for 243 yards and two touchdowns.

McDonald returning in 2022 is huge because FSU would have no players with any meaningful production sliding into starting roles if that wasn’t the case(unless they got someone from the portal).

The receiving unit, as a whole, is still one of the weakest units on the team, so an experienced player like McDonald should be helpful. He improved as a blocker overall but still needs work in that area.

McDonald is a hard worker, so maybe he can find another level of production with two years of starting experience under his belt?

As I’ve mentioned with the other seniors returning for the 2022 season, it’s a good sign they believe in the direction of the program and Mike Norvell’s vision. McDonald defended his coach on Twitter recently when some fans created a Twitter Space where they discussed Mike Norvell.

I spoke with McDonald before last year, and he felt the program was going in the right direction at that point. I think he was right, as we saw significant improvement in the team overall. Congrats to Camren McDonald on giving it one more go in Tallahassee.