{"id":86206,"date":"2020-04-21T00:51:50","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T04:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=86206"},"modified":"2021-03-13T13:02:28","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T18:02:28","slug":"cole-mcdonald-2020-nfl-draft-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/04\/21\/cole-mcdonald-2020-nfl-draft-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Cole McDonald 2020 NFL Draft Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Cole McDonald Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Position:<\/strong> Quarterback<br \/>\n<strong>Height:<\/strong> 6\u20193\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>Weight:<\/strong> 215 pounds<br \/>\n<strong>School:<\/strong> University of Hawaii<\/p>\n<h2>Cole McDonald 2020 NFL Draft Profile<\/h2>\n<p>If not for Utah State\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/2020\/02\/14\/jordan-love-2020-nfl-draft-profile\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Jordan Love<\/strong><\/a>, Hawaii\u2019s <strong>Cole McDonald<\/strong> would be the best passer available from the Mountain West Conference in this year\u2019s NFL Draft. Fairly recently, the school has produced record-setting signal-callers in Colt Brennan and Timmy Chang. McDonald, a passer whose likeness appears more fit to ride waves on a surfboard, is the latest in the Rainbow Warriors\u2019 line of talented quarterbacks.<\/p>\n<p>As a sophomore at Hawaii, the six-foot-three, 215-pound passer threw for 418 yards in his first collegiate start, at Colorado State. The total was the most by a Rainbow Warrior quarterback in his starting debut. With a no. 13 on his chest and eye black smeared on his cheeks like a tribal warrior, McDonald finished his college career with over 8,000 yards and 70 touchdowns, all while in Nick Rolovich\u2019s run-and-shoot offense.<\/p>\n<p>Used somewhat commonly at the high school level and infrequently in the college ranks, the scheme requires more than a little ad-libbing. The XFL\u2019s Houston Roughnecks ran the scheme under former Hawaii head coach <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/J\/JoneJu00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June Jones<\/a><\/strong>, though, and the league\u2019s darling,<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/2020\/02\/08\/p-j-walker-houston-roughnecks-roll-victory\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong> P.J. Walker<\/strong><\/a>, was signed to an understudy role in Carolina. Perhaps, this could open the door for McDonald, who shone in the system, to find a professional home<\/p>\n<h3>Strengths<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>In terms of frame, McDonald is exemplary;<\/li>\n<li>Has fortitude, to say the least; In the 2018 season opener, he strained his MCL. Still, he passed for 3,875 yards and 298.1 yards per game, both good enough for eighth in the nation;<\/li>\n<li>Even after dealing with internal bleeding after taking a shot against San Jose State the next month, McDonald finished the season with 26 more touchdowns than interceptions;<\/li>\n<li>At the NFL Scouting Combine, the athletic McDonald posted the best marks at his position in both the 40-yard dash (4.58 seconds) and vertical jump (36 inches);<\/li>\n<li>Tosses the football with rhythm on underneath routes;<\/li>\n<li>With the velocity he puts on passes, he can get away with late deliveries to the sidelines;<\/li>\n<li>Can also throw well on the run and take advantage of busted coverage;<\/li>\n<li>Puts air under the ball, placing it both over the shoulder and across the yard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Weaknesses<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Even after altering his windup, McDonald\u2019s throwing motion still seems clunky, like a catapult; \u00b7throwing mechanics can affect his middle range accuracy at times;<\/li>\n<li>Operated out of an empty backfield regularly;<\/li>\n<li>He wasn\u2019t expected to read defenses in-depth for Nick Rolovich\u2019s offense;<\/li>\n<li>Many were sleeping by the time McDonald played on Saturdays;<\/li>\n<li>McDonald wasn\u2019t trained to scan defensive schemes;<\/li>\n<li>When asked to go through his progression, he would sometimes pan his head too slow, prompting rushed throws and inaccurate balls.<\/li>\n<li>Willingness to take shots when scrambling could be concerning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>NFL Comparison: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/RivePh00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Philip Rivers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Teams With Need at Position: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/dolphins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miami Dolphins<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/chargers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Los Angeles Chargers<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/panthers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carolina Panthers<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/raiders\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Las Vegas Raiders<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/buccaneers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/patriots\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New England Patriots<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Projection:<\/strong> Late Rounds<\/p>\n<h3>Bottom Line on Cole McDonald<\/h3>\n<p>With prototypical size and exceptional athleticism, McDonald will find a home as a backup. He isn\u2019t a stranger to waiting to hear his name called. After a solid senior season at Sonora High School in La Habra, Calif., the two-star recruit planned to take the junior college route before Hawaii called the night before national signing day.<\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"EMANU-dBQnZhNlUf15mW3A\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1184290248\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'EMANU-dBQnZhNlUf15mW3A',sig:'kJxnN5G6DX1CQoUd2nOIIRmTW7V9ploeudsnDhAxiLs=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1184290248',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After spending his collegiate years at the University of Hawaii, quarterback Cole McDonald hopes to continue his career professionally in the 2020 NFL Draft<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3390,"featured_media":86358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647],"tags":[5273],"class_list":["post-86206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","tag-2020-nfl-draft"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3390"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}