Risers In The CFB Saturdays DE Rankings
We give a breakdown of the risers in our October 16, 2020 update of our college football defensive end rankings.
cfbsaturdays.com
Will McDonald redshirted in 2018, then began to make a name for himself in 2019. This year he has picked up right where he left off and continued his improvement as a player. McDonald has been effective as a pass rusher off the edge with his speed and quickness. He has good length and does a good job of getting underneath the tackle as he turns the corner. He began to come on as a pass rusher in the latter part of the 2019 season and has continued that trend in 2020. He is quick at the point of attack and can be disruptive against the run, but needs to do a better job of disengaging blockers in the run game. McDonald has gotten better against the run and should continue to improve and round out his game. Nonetheless he has made enough progress to make our list of the best defensive ends.
In the first four games of the season, McDonald has tallied 13 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 1 pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. He has been remarkably consistent from week to week recording at least half a sack each game. Dating back to last season McDonald has recorded a sack in seven of his last eight games. The redshirt sophomore is still relatively new to football, he preferred basketball early in high school and is still a raw player on the football field. With how effective he has been already, it’s scary to think what he will do as he continues to develop.