Getty Iowa State DE Will McDonald IV.
Barring some unexpected wheeling and dealing, the Los Angeles Rams will not be participating in the first round of the NFL draft on April 27.
However, the Rams, who have the 36th overall pick, will still be in great position to land a player with the potential to make a Week 1 impact next season. One of those players, according to Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobieski, is edge rusher Will McDonald IV.
“Iowa State’s Will McDonald IV is another fringe first-round talent who can immediately help in a weakened area,” Sobieski wrote in an April 6 story. “Los Angeles’ current crop of edge-rushers are scary (and not in a good way). None of the outside linebackers on the team’s roster managed to get a sack last season. … The 23-year-old prospect can add some pass-rushing juice, though he may struggle at the point of attack.”
Will McDonald’s Draft Potential
The Los Angeles Rams’ pass rush lacked its 2021 punch last season, falling from 50 sacks to just 38, in the bottom half of the league. Linebackers Leonard Floyd and Bobby Wagner led the team with just 9 and 6 sacks, respectively. Both players left the team to become free agents, creating a desperate need for pass-rushing reinforcements.
Will McDonald IV gets the pressure/sack against Wright
McDonald, who played at Iowa State, fits the bill. He is ranked as the No. 3 defensive end available in the draft, according to NFLDraftBuzz.com, which wrote that he “possesses a wide array of pass-rushing skills as well as the prototypical speed and athletic skills required for the position.” At the NFL scouting combine, he posted a vertical jump of 36 inches and a broad jump of 132 inches. He also turned in a 40-yard dash time of 4.62 seconds at the Cyclones’ pro day.
Edge Rusher Will McDonald IV slow-mo’ing it to 36” on the vert. Pretty awesome for a D-End💪
In five seasons at Iowa State, which included a redshirt season in 2018, he amassed 34 sacks, 78 solo tackles and 11 forced fumbles, according to ESPN.
His sack numbers fell from 10.5 in 2020 and 11.5 in 2021 to just 5 during his senior season because Iowa State played him as more of an all-purpose defensive player rather than a concentrated pass rusher.
Sheesh Will McDonald IV 😤 🌪
McDonald has played linebacker and defensive line, and he even saw some time in the secondary in college. He leaves the Cyclones as a three-time All-Big 12 first-teamer.
An impressive physical specimen with multi-sport athletic ability, McDonald also lettered in basketball, baseball and track in high school. He told reporters at the scouting combine that he wasn’t approached to play football until his junior year of high school.
“McDonald is an explosive, pliable edge talent whose active hands and eager feet make it hard for tackles to get a firm grip on him,” wrote NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein.
Will McDonald’s Potential for the Rams
Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell raved about McDonald in an interview with the Des Moines Register, saying:
“Will has physically and football-wise gotten better leaps and bounds every season he played here. The one thing he has from an elite trait that the NFL is looking for is the ability to affect the quarterback. I feel he’s the most elite player I’ve been around in that respect, whether it’s a sack, knocking down balls, disrupting timing with his athleticism, or making the quarterback uncomfortable. In that league, everybody is looking for those traits.”
Will McDonald IV has 34 5/8 inch arms and a 42 inch vertical.
With the Rams, a versatile pass rusher such as McDonald could fit in as a 4-3 defensive end or a 3-4 linebacker. Or, simply be a do-it-all type of defender that could play in any number of schemes depending on the situation, as he did at Iowa State.
Iowa State put 6-foot-4, 239-pound Will McDonald IV inside the tackles on 20% of his snaps in their three-man fronts, and probably wondered why he got washed out. You put him outside the tackles, and it’s just one big splash reel. Could have a Haason Reddick-level impact.
The knocks on McDonald are his lack of mass — his 6-foot-3 frame carries just 236 pounds, according to his official Iowa State bio — and his age of 23. At least one team, the Cleveland Browns, won’t draft a player over 22, according to USA Today’s Cory Kinman.
However, five other teams are interested in McDonald, according to Pro Football Network, so there is a chance he could be taken by the time the Rams pick early in the second round.