Jets stunningly select Will McDonald IV with No. 15 pick in 2023 NFL Draft
The Jets pu🌠lled a stunner in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night.
The team selected Iowa State edge rusher Will McDonald with the No. 💧1⛦5 overall pick.
McDonald was not expected to be taken that early in thꦕ🍸e draft.
He was projected as a late first-round pick, but clearly, theᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ Jets valued him more than the draft gurus did.
The Jets considered McDonald the best pass rusher in this year’s draft.
“We feel like he is one of the most dynamic, if not the most dynamic, pass rushers in this draft,” Jets general manager Joe Douglas said. “A great combination of skill and production and athleticism. I thin♛k it was on full display at the Senior Bowl and all throughout his career in Ames. I’m fired up to add him to our strong unit and keep adding to the line of scrimmage.”
McDonald ha💃d 34 sacks in college, including 11.5 in the 2021 season.
He also had 10 forced fumbles.
He joins a large group of pass rus🦹hers on the Jets, led by Carl Lawson, John Franklin-Myers, and Jermaine Johnson, a first-round pick last year.
“We come at you in waves,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “We ꦚdress 10 [defensive linemen] on game day. With Aaron [Rodgers] here, hopefully, we’re playing with a few more leads, and 🧸we’ve got a guy who can close the door on some offenses and get to the quarterback. He’s just got a unique ability to catch the corner, and he’s got elite length to get the ball out. He’s going to be special.”
At 6-foot-4 and 239 pounds, McDonald has a ton of athleticism and qui♊ckness.
He was an accomplished basketball🅺 player and track athl♓ete in high school.
He ♓did not start playing football until his junior year of high sc💝hool in 2016.
He became an All-State player in his senior year.
McDonald wa🌼s asked what he thinks his ceiling is in the NFL, and he ꦗset the bar high.
“I’m just going to try to get into the Hall of Fame,” McDonald saꦿid. “I don’t think I have like a ceiling. I want to keep rising. I want to keep improving 1 percent every day and do whatever I can.”
McDonald also will fit in with Saleh’s desire for his edge rushers to pla♔y with violence.
“I love hitting people,” McDonald said.
The Jets were projected to take an offensive lineman with their first pick, but💃 the top four linemen were all off the board before the Jets picked.
The Steelers seemed to steal Georgia offensive tackle ♒Broderick Jones from the Jets by trading up to obtain the 14th pick꧅ from the Patriots to grab Jones just before the Jets were on the clock.
“We were going through a number of d♌ifferent scenarios throughout the top-15 picks, but ultimately we followed the board and let the board come to us. And we’re very excited to add Wi👍ll to the team, to a very deep and explosive pass-rushing unit,” Douglas said.
The Jets moved from No. 13 to No. 15 as part of the trade with the Packers for R🐎odgers.
It may have cost them an offensive lineman.
Paris Johnson Jr. (Cardinals), Darnell 🎀Wright (Bears), and Peter Skoronski (Titans) were𒉰 taken earlier in the draft.
The Jets clearly tried to trade out of thꩵe No. 15 pick, letting the time on the clock almost run out♑ before drafting McDonald.
Other options on the board when the Jets selected were Georgia edge rusher Nolan Smith, Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Pitt defensive t🍨ackle Calijah Kancey.
This is the second str🌜aight year the Jets have drafted a player from Iowa State.ဣ
T🍌hey took running back Breece Hall in the second round last year.
Douglas said he got a text from Hall right after they made the p💖ick celebrating, and McDonald s🎃aid Hall called him after the pick.
The two had ಌactually spoken earlier in the day with no idea they were abꦆout to be reunited.
Saleh was excited to aඣdd another pass rusher to the st🐟able.
“At the end of the day, getting the quarterback on the ground is a premium,” Saleh said. “When you’re sitting there at pick 15 and you feel like yoꦉu’ve got your best pass rusher staring at you in the face, I just feel like it’s an easy decision.”
