Getty New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh reacting on the sideline during an NFL game.
The New York Jets’ selection of Iowa State pass rusher Will McDonald with the No. 15 overall pick in April’s draft drew mixed reactions.
However, a former 18-year NFL scout delivered an emphatically positive reaction when asked about that addition by the green and white.
“I thought he [McDonald] was the most athletic pass-rusher in the draft — and that includes Will Anderson [the No. 3 overall pick in the draft],” Jim Nagy said in a phone interview with Rich Cimini of ESPN. “I’m not saying he’s the same player as Will Anderson,” but the former longtime NFL scout said the combination of McDonald’s physical traits and college production made him “a top-half of the first-round talent.”
In five seasons at the collegiate level, McDonald notched 34 sacks which broke Von Miller’s all-time Big 12 sack record.
Longtime Ex-NFL Scout Quiets Noise Around Jets EDGE Will McDonald
Cimini said “A lot of people were surprised” when the Jets turned in its draft card for McDonald in the first round.
Don’t count Nagy among them who got an up close and personal look at McDonald while he was at the Senior Bowl this offseason.
He “excelled” in pass rushing drills Nagy told Cimini of ESPN throughout Senior Bowl week.
Woah @JimNagy_SB of the @seniorbowl had some HUGE praise for #Jets 1st round Will McDonald IV (@WILL_JUN1OR) calling him the ‘most athletic pass rusher’ in the 2023 #NFLDraft 👀🔥 📸 Rich Cimini of ESPN #TakeFlight @CycloneFB
“He’s a handful because he can give you a lot of different stuff,” Nagy explained to Cimini in a column posted on Sunday, May 14. “Great first step, super explosive, a 6-foot-9 high jumper out of high school — and you can see that when he comes off the rock. … He can beat you with speed and he can beat you with counters. He’s one of those limber, wiry athletes. He’s just a really accomplished pass-rusher.”
Jets Made a Huge Gamble in the 2023 NFL Draft
Despite McDonald being “widely projected” as a late first to early second-round draft choice, Gang Green took him in the middle of the opening round.
It was the first time the Jets have truly dipped their toes into the pass rusher waters with that early of a pick since they took Vernon Gholston with the No. 6 overall selection in the first round of the 2008 NFL draft.
Gholston ended up being one of the biggest busts in NFL history and never recorded a single sack during his time with Gang Green.
After making that embarrassing mistake in the draft, the Jets have been hesitant over the years to try that strategy again.
Now many regimes and years later, Gang Green is ready to get hurt again.
Despite that poor Gholston selection, the Jets still made back-to-back AFC Championship games in 2009 and 2010. If Gholston would’ve been half the player people expected him to be maybe the Jets would’ve made a Super Bowl instead of just conference championship games.
The green and white are hoping for better luck this time around with the McDonald pick.
The Jets don’t have an elite-proven pass rusher on their roster. If McDonald can become that guy he can help the Jets reach another level. Gang Green had a top-four defense in 2022 and the goals are even higher in 2023.