Will McDonald on Hard Knocks
- Thread starter FriendlySpartan
- Start date
He has that potential for sure. He is an athletic freak, and it doesn’t take a professional scout to see that.
Taking off my cardinal and gold glasses for a bit, I do think he’s going to have to find a way to add more size if he wants to stay on the field more than just on obvious passing downs. NFL OL are massive, massive people, who are also freakishly athletic as well.
It may be the Jets plan to keep him primarily as a pass rusher. Keep him fresh for the obvious passing downs and then unleash the beast. McD doesn't need to be an every down player to have a highly successful NFL career
Here is a quote from the HC of the NY Jets. " we can have a HOF QB, two 10 million dollar receivers, rookie running back of the year.....but it don't mean nothing until we get the big boys on the line to do their jobs." it has, and always will be, won in the trenches.
Completely agree. If that is the plan, I have no doubt he will be amazing. All I’m saying is if he wants more than that, he will probably need to beef up.
We all knew he was on the 'skinny' side at ISU. He looks to have added some beef since he played his last snap as a Cyclone, but he is still looking like a boy amongst men up against those Carolina OL. Doesn't look a whole heck of a lot bigger than the QB he sacked either. I am thinking that over time he will probably really fill out nicely, but putting weight on and keeping it on has always been his knock.
Wasn't enough to prevent him getting selected in the 1st round, and probably won't stand in the way of him having a successful career either though.
First of all, we finally broke the 1st round streak! Let's take it easy on the complaints about the scheme that got him there as an unheralded 3 star.
Secondly, you can double an edge rusher in a 4-down front. And generally speaking, in a 4-3, there's one less football player on the field with superior athleticism that can exploit the space and make defenses pay for devoting two guys to one man.
And finally, as much as stopping big 12 offenses, Heacock switched to this scheme because at schools like Iowa State it's much harder to recruit and develop guys into stud defensive linemen than stud safeties. Plus every defense rotates D linemen, so you only need 5-8 good ones instead of at least 7 but probably more like 10. So it's really not realistic to discuss as an option. Been there, tried that.
Secondly, you can double an edge rusher in a 4-down front. And generally speaking, in a 4-3, there's one less football player on the field with superior athleticism that can exploit the space and make defenses pay for devoting two guys to one man.
And finally, as much as stopping big 12 offenses, Heacock switched to this scheme because at schools like Iowa State it's much harder to recruit and develop guys into stud defensive linemen than stud safeties. Plus every defense rotates D linemen, so you only need 5-8 good ones instead of at least 7 but probably more like 10. So it's really not realistic to discuss as an option. Been there, tried that.
Jfc he set the big 12 ******* record.
Our defense wasn't top 5 because of our LBs. We literally had one of the best secondaries in the country, along with a first round lineman and a player in Anderson that played really well. Couple that with generally weak QB play (in the conference as a whole) we were able to make teams 1 dimensional and "focus" on stopping the run.
Between the secondary, line, and LBs the latter were clearly the weakest link. Not even sure how that's debatable.
And he probably could have NIL'd to somewhere with a 4 man front if it was really issue with him.
If anything doing what he did with a 3 man would be more impressive to scouts.
I thought the spotlight they put on Will was awesome! The praise and awe from the coaches and the narrator were almost over the top. The best part was when he was laying on his back and sprung up to his feet. That got everyone talking. On the spin move he was double teamed, held and still pressured the QB. Looking forward to next episodes when BH gets back into practice and AL gets some final spring game playing time.
Cameron Erving with the complement. He’s a 9 year vet so he’s went against a few pass rushers through the years. I like Will chances to succeed even more after seeing this.
Next time I fall down, I'm going to try to get up that way. Will makes it look easy enough!
Let me know when you get out of traction.
I loved Heacock's recommendation to the Jets regarding Will McDonald:
"Take his skateboard away."
"Take his skateboard away."
