Will McDonald, Edge, Iowa State
A fixture on the Freaks List for most of his college career, McDonald, who ranked No. 5 in 2022, had 27 sacks, 35 TFLs and eight forced fumbles the last three years, while also doing a lot of the dirty work for the Cyclones defense. He broad jumped 11 feet at the combine after measuring in at 6 feet 4, 239 pounds with almost 35-inch arms. At his pro day, McDonald ran the 40 in the low 4.6s and, according to NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, ran a blazing 4.09 shuttle and 6.79 3-cone time, which would’ve been the fifth-fastest of any player in Indianapolis; the shuttle time would’ve been fourth-best.
The Coaching Intel
“He really affected the game. The way he turns the corner is incredible. He’s so loose and has good pass rush moves. I think he just played so hard. He doesn’t have the same traits, but he was a more productive player than (Tyree) Wilson. They asked him to do some things you don’t usually see from guys that size — playing in the B-gap or being a 4i. They asked him to do a lot for them. He played the run way better this year than a year ago. Every year we played him he got better.”
“He’s got a slot receiver’s flexibility, but when he looks in the mirror he thinks he sees a 3-technique. I really respected that kid. If he’s 15 pounds heavier, he’s probably a top-5 pick.”
“He’s explosive and was the toughest defender in our league, and that scheme’s so hard to deal with because they’d move all over. But for being not that big, he was still physical enough to take on a double team.”
