2023 NFL Draft: Will McDonald IV - Iowa State Edge
Will McDonald - Iowa State
Strengths:
1. Subtle Upper Body Movements - He does not use this to his advantage as often as he could, but his quicker upper body movements make him incredibly slippery in one-on-one situations. He dips around contact and performs rapid misdirections at a level comparable to Will Anderson in several reps throughout his tape. Utilizing this technique more will help him tremendously as a stand-up edge rusher.
2. Closing Speed - McDonald has tremendous closing burst in and out of the pocket. He can set the edge with great spacing using his long arms against the tackle, and can also chase down more mobile quarterbacks who get outside the pocket. He needs to work on committing instead of haphazardly trying to deflect a pass on occasion, but the burst and pursuit skills are there. He could even potentially play off-ball with his prowess in identifying where runners will be, favorable angles, and open field movement skills, but having elite closing speed as an on-ball linebacker is essential against the more athletic quarterbacks in the NFL as well.
3. Hands - His hands are not only lightning fast, but also incredibly precise. His long arms and forward lean help him to initiate contact, and his hands always seem to go exactly where they should. He also has quick and effective hands on speed rush moves when he elects to use them, which he really should do more often. While his pass rush moves are mostly unrefined, teaching technique and decision-making is much easier than training the timing, quickness, and accuracy on placement that McDonald already possesses.
Weaknesses:
1. Timing the Snap - McDonald is often delayed getting off the line. This allows the offensive linemen to be more ready when he does initiate contact. This timing issue is not seen on every play, but it is certainly something to clean up moving forward as an edge rusher with more space to cover between him and the quarterback. While his burst is the same speed regardless, it is effectively lessened from if his get-off was just slightly sooner and better timed with the snap.
2. Speed to Power - He has great length, hand placement, and pad levels. He initiates contact often in a way that looks mechanically effective, yet the offensive linemen he opposes rarely budge. Much of this stems from his size, weighing only 236lbs and going against tackles and guards who could outweigh him by nearly 100lbs. The only concerning area here, assuming he can add some mass to his frame, is that his initial leg drive and motor are both lacking. His lower body power appears subpar at times, despite allegedly having a 42"-43" vertical. He gets popped up rather easily due to his weight, and his legs stop churning. This can be improved drastically by adding mass and getting better snap timing so that linemen are not already positioned for him, but he has very few reps where he collapses the pocket or runs through linemen throughout his college tape.
3. Two-Point Stance Footwork - This could stem mostly from inexperience as he was horribly misused at Iowa State, but his explosiveness from a two point stance is poor for a stand-up pass rusher. He often false steps or propels off of his back leg entirely. His stance is awkward at times as well, as if his end goal is not to get to the quarterback. He may be coached more to contain, but the reps throughout his tape show inexperience and a lack of initial burst for an athlete of his caliber who is expected to be cast into a role outside that he has not played often.
Grade: Late Second
Pro Comparison: Azeez Ojulari
Ojulari was the more refined and overall better edge prospect. McDonald spaces better with his length to fill gaps in the run game, but Ojulari was slightly better at all of McDonald's strengths in the pass rush. They have similar size and play styles from the edge, but Ojulari is still a year younger than McDonald despite coming out in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Film Notes:
Texas (10/15/2022)
Versatile alignment, but not necessarily as effective inside. Still gets off well from a three point stance. Good angle and pad level. Good lateral agility and quick release. Getting doubled often. Slight delay off line regarding timing on multiple plays. Consistently good swipe to take outside. Excellent power behind first step, but last off the line again. Very good run defense for a projected edge rusher, but not good at getting off of blocks when lining up over the tackle of inside. Good navigation through traffic and penetration of slant blocks from the outside. Consistently good hand placement in pass rush. Raw play strength at the line suffers due to size, although he is a strong 236lbs and clearly has room to grow physically. Seemingly great length (35" arms). Pushed back on power moves. Good hand placement on bull, but not enough mass, leg drive, or speed to power off the line. Has a pass rush plan on a lower percentage of plays. Good rep from 3-tech to throw the guard to the ground with leverage, but he should not be asked to play inside. Will Anderson-looking rep with his upper body movement and choppy hands from the outside to gain penetration. Excellent speed rusher from the outside, but takes such few reps as such. Good open field movement. Balance on the stunt was appropriate, but stayed too high for tackle causing him to miss. Pulled off block late on outside run. Could be a good edge setter in the right scheme. Slight false step from two point stance, but looked comfortable. Nice angle in pursuit. Very good length. Keeps pads low when initiating contact from three point stance. Lots of potential, but will need coaching and experience playing as a stand-up edge where he should be slotted in the NFL.
Baylor (09/24/2022)
Doubled, but spaces well using length to contain. Last lineman with his hand off the dirt. Lost all drive in one-on-one rep to completely take himself out of the play. Good wrap in run game. Lined up as off ball linebacker, where he looked comfortable in pursuit to the sideline. Could certainly play a hybrid role as a blitz-heavy linebacker or more likely a Reddick/Parsons style of role. Good spacing and lateral movement inside to outside against the run. Pushed off back foot with little power. Quickly executed push-pull. Takes good angles to sideline. Incredible open field movement skills for a defensive lineman. Last off line. Good bend, but does not use length to accentuate it. Smart run defender, containing one side and taking good angles to the other consistently. Does not understand how to maximize drive when standing up. Pushes off of back foot again. Not enough power to win through an offensive tackle. Gets doubled often. Poor decision to try and swat the pass as opposed to getting low and closing in on the quarterback. Late off the line and slower spin move. Lacks speed to power. Appears to be winning one-on-one rep, but is not closing or getting off the block in any capacity. Good hand placement for pull inside. Does not seem to have a pass rush plan when blitzing from the off-ball position, but still draws double team. Could be schemed to get the other blitzer a free lane, but he still does not use his hands as well when he is coming from the second level. Late off line, and false step from three point stance.
TCU (11/26/2022)
Late off the line. Lost balance around the edge. Seems to lack bend around outside, and does not know how to use length to his advantage when taking the edge. False step from two point stance. Rapid spin move. Doubled often. On the ground again. Cleaner two point release on the false start despite a small false step. Great burst and upper body movements to penetrate the pocket. Lukas Van Ness-like initial contact, but is too light for it to be as effective. This technique he demonstrates throughout his tape could be very beneficial if he gains a considerable amount of weight. Doubled often. Tenacious in short to go situations, but should not be used on the inside. Great closing burst and pass deflection. Pulled off of block well using length. Shot out of a cannon from two point stance despite false step. Looked like BJ Ojulari on that rep all around. He needs to show more of these reps throughout his tape. He needs to learn a long arm, which he was in the perfect position to execute, but that is not one of his go-to pass rush moves. Great initial contact, but lacks speed to power. Got pushed back rather easily until his proceeding move. Switches sides often, but must learn to explode off of his front leg without a false step regardless of which leg is in front. Could have better full body bend on outside. First step appears consistently shallow without getting triple extension. Quick hands at the line. Good spacing to work inside and close the gap on the inside run. Great quickness off the edge. His use of hands on speed rushes is fantastic.
Alignment:
A-Gap - McDonald should not line up in the A-Gap.
B-Gap - Despite lining up in the B-Gap on 219 snaps in his 2022 season, he absolutely should not be playing inside.
4/5-Tech - He could function well as a defensive end with his comfort from a three point stance, but his build is better suited for the outside.
Edge - This is where McDonald is projected to play, despite not really playing this roll at Iowa State.
Off-Ball - McDonald could legitimately play off-ball linebacker and be a good player at the next level. His open field movement skills are excellent, and he has great pursuit with closing speed and appropriate angles. He could certainly play at the second level in a blitz-heavy scheme if his projected role as an every down on-ball linebacker is not panning out. It is unlikely, but he has the physical ability to switch positions effectively. Coverage may be an issue, but he is a good run defender and pass rusher as it stands with the build of a linebacker as he currently only weighs 236lbs.
Attributes (Grade/10):
Attributes | Bend | 6 |
Burst | 8.5 | |
Motor | 7.5 |
Bend: McDonald could have significantly more bend if he understood how to gain leverage around the outside. Without using his length in any capacity, he ends up on the ground when taking too steep of an angle. He is also prone to propelling past the pocket, and attempting to salvage the pass rush by spinning back inside. He is the type of athlete who could reliably win with bend around the outside, but has little experience doing so with his perplexing usage at Iowa State.
Burst: This could absolutely be a 10/10. He has some reps with incredible burst with a force and explosiveness that cannot be a fluke. This grade is lower for two reasons. First, he often does not get triple extension from his first step. He holds back a lot of his potential displacement and speed to power because of shallow first steps. If this can be refined, then it will improve most areas of his pass rush right away, especially from his projected role on the edge. Second, his leg drive itself is often lacking. Again, some reps are ridiculous where he appears to be shot out of a cannon, but they are few and far between. His power behind each proceeding step is lessened, and he consistently tries to watch the quarterback while adjusting laterally rather than driving towards or into the pocket once his power rush moves are inevitably stopped. There is also the added issue of him coming off of the line late at times, which allows linemen to get into position slightly before him. When all goes well for McDonald, he has among the best burst in class. As it stands, his false steps, lack of extension, timing, and submaximal power exertion leave this grade much lower than it could be.
Motor: His effort is not lacking, but he slows his foot movement considerably on many plays. This inhibits him from applying potential pressure on proceeding moves. While he often performs second moves along the lines of rips and push-pulls, he also resorts to containing more than he should instead of continually trying to drive into the pocket. His effort in pursuit across the field on outside runs helps his grade from being any lower as well.
Skillset | Pass Rush | 7 |
Run Defense | 8.5 | |
Coverage | 7 |
Pass Rush: McDonald's numbers were very poor due to usage more than ability. That said, he has limited active pass rush moves that he implements, and he often does not have a game plan. He has quick hands with good placement, which leads to a good push-pull and rip specifically, but not much else. Even the moves that work for him are not utilized as much as they could be. Having a plan going into each rep would help significantly, and his success when attempting a move is the reason why this grade is not lower. Physically, he is built to be a speed rusher, and lacks functional upper body strength and leg drive. His burst is great, but his speed to power conversion is considerably weak. If he connects with a good coach that can show him how to effectively use speed to win stemming from his already great twitch and hand usage, then McDonald could become a dangerous pass rusher.
Run Defense: While he is not very strong physically in the run game on the inside, he does a few things well that are essential from the edge in run defense. He can permeate slant blocks, and spaces well against inside runs so that he can at least get an arm around the runner. He does not allow free gaps often on his side unless he is completely pushed away from the play, which does happen against better tackles and is the reason this grade is not quite elite. He also is an edge setter with good upper body technique, and can also chase down outside runners. His angles are extremely impressive play after play, and he has a good sense of where he should be when the play breaks to the other side or gets to the second level. He never really gets the push against tackles and can get redirected rather easily with solid contact, but he does the job well for a 236lbs defensive lineman.
Coverage: His movement skills in the open field are better than many off-ball linebackers, and he appears fluid dropping into coverage. He was not used to man a tight end, running back, or drop into shallow zone too often because Iowa State generally preferred playing him on the inside in those situations. This grade could easily be anywhere from a 5/10 to a 9/10, but not enough reps were observed to make a reliable assessment.
Hands | Placement | 9.5 |
Effectiveness | 6 | |
Quickness | 9.5 |
Placement: His hand placement is excellent on most plays. He gets them exactly where he needs them to be with precision due to his length and quickness, and then often does not do much else with them.
Effectiveness: He just does not do enough with his hands. This has the potential to be one of the most dangerous aspects to his game, but he needs better coaching to figure out what is optimal from each position, or at least have some sort of plan heading into the rep.
Quickness: He has lightning fast hands that have consistent and accurate placement. He also uses them very well when swiping and chopping along with his more contact-reliant rips and push-pulls. Even on the moves that rely on leverage and precision, McDonald has extremely quick and efficient hand movements.
Line Control | Strength | 3.5 |
Balance | 5.5 |
Strength: He has decent functional strength for 236lbs, but that does not translate to line control at his size. He gets pushed around when he is locked up and cannot outmuscle opponents in the run or pass game.
Balance: He ends up on the ground a decent amount. This happens in various situations such as trying to bend, change direction through contact, or simply getting pushed down by his opponents. He has good enough balance to successfully perform interior spin moves and use some bend when necessary, but he could improve drastically in the area.
Pass-Rush Decisions | Versatility | 6 |
Technique | 7 | |
Execution | 5 |
Versatility: He does not win with power, despite often attempting to do so. Even from outside the tackle, he often tries to power through guys much sturdier than he is. His pass rush plan is lacking, and he has not demonstrated that he understands too many legitimate pass rush moves. He is a great athlete who has reps winning with speed, agility, and persistence, but his technique and decision-making will need to improve drastically before this grade elevates any higher. The twitch is there, but he is too raw with too many suboptimal tendencies to be considered a reliable pass rusher right away.
Technique: Hand placement, quickness, and pad level alone would make this grade well above a 9/10. Unfortunately, he lacks closing technique on most reps due to a lack of refinement on specific moves. He knows how to initiate contact, but often does not know where to go from there. If he can add a few technical moves to his arsenal, then he could easily become a plus pass rusher at the next level.
Execution: His execution when all goes well makes for some impressive high-end reps. His lack of production in his final season may primarily come from usage, but he also does not always finish plays well. His pass rush moves occasionally fizzle out, and his lack of versatility when it comes to specific pass rush moves is detrimental to overall execution.
Traits | Agility | 9 |
Athleticism | 9 | |
Length | 9 |
Agility: His open field lateral movement is among the best in the game for an edge rusher. He explodes quickly in any direction when there is no contact involved.
Athleticism: Number 5 on Bruce Feldman's 2022 Freaks list. He has a 42"-43" vertical, and displays incredible open field movement skills for a defensive lineman. If he can gain more play strength, then this grade could jump even higher.
Full Report:
Will McDonald IV is an odd prospect because his projected role in the NFL is different from what he played in college. At Iowa State, he had his hand in the dirt on the majority of plays. In the NFL, he projects best as a stand-up 3-4 OLB. His open field movement skills and explosiveness along with his body composition and lack of functional play-strength suggest that he is best suited to play on the edge. He is a rare breed of athlete with a 42"-43" vertical who has never really had the opportunity to consistently showcase what he can do from the edge as a pure speed rusher. He is also a plus run defender who can set the edge and takes great angles in pursuit. His closing burst is among his best qualities, which will be pivotal for chasing down the more mobile NFL quarterbacks. While he is raw in many aspects, his flashes indicate than he could become an every down superstar. Because of his utilization at Iowa State, he has developed some bad habits on passing downs. His speed reps are unbelievable with excellent upper body movement and lighting fast hands, but he often elects to try and run straight through offensive tackles. While his initial contact has great hand precision and pad level, his speed to power is lacking against the big men up front who may outweigh him by up to 100lbs. He rarely approaches the play with a pass rush plan, which is backed up by his limited production in his redshirt senior season. All of the tools are there to be an impact player, but any team drafting him should be hesitant to thrust him immediately into a starting role. With his tools and limited experience in a stand-up role, despite playing at Iowa State for five years and taking the vast majority of snaps over that time, McDonald is still a project. He has massive potential, but he is on the older side and will be 24-years-old before his rookie season begins. This may knock him down a bit in the draft because teams may not want to take a shot on an older player with a lot of question marks surrounding how he will perform on the outside. That said, he has the athleticism and high-end reps that are worthy of a day two pick. His final grade of a late second round pick reconciles his potential with his age and the fact that the final assessment of his abilities is more of a projection of his outlook as opposed to simply analyzing what he has already shown on tape due to his odd usage over the last couple of seasons.
NFL Projection:
Will McDonald IV will likely go in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He will begin his career in a rotational role, but eventually become an effective every down player. If he can refine his pass rush moves and perhaps gain 10lbs or so of muscle, then he will have a significantly better career.
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