Cole McDonald
refer to caption
McDonald with the Argonauts in 2021
Personal information
Born: (1998-05-20) May 20, 1998 (age 25)
La Mirada, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school:Sonora High School
(La Habra, California)
College:Hawaii (2016–2019)
Position:Quarterback
NFL Draft:2020 / Round: 7 / Pick: 224
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Career CFL statistics as of 2022
TD–INT:0–1
Passing yards:45
Completion percentage:50.0
Player stats at NFL.com · CFL.ca

Cole McDonald (born May 20, 1998) is an American football quarterback. He played college football at Hawaii and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Early years

McDonald was born in La Mirada, California, and grew up in La Habra, California. He attended Sonora High School where he played football and ran track.[1] As a senior, McDonald completed 63% of his passes for 2,313 yards and 19 touchdowns while also rushing for 1,091 yards and 10 touchdowns.[2] McDonald was lightly recruited in high school and initially received no scholarship offers from Division I schools. He initially intended on playing at a junior college for a year until he received a last-minute offer from Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich the night before national signing day.[3]

College career

McDonald redshirted his true freshman season. As a redshirt freshman, McDonald served as the Rainbow Warriors's backup quarterback and played in six games, completing five of nine passes for 22 yards and a touchdown and finishing third on the team in rushing with 138 and one touchdown on 16 carries.[4][5] He was named the team's starting quarterback going into his redshirt sophomore season and passed for 3,875 yards and 36 touchdowns and was named honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference (MWC).[6][7] He tightened his motion after consulting quarterbacks coach Craig Stutzmann and completed 38 percent of his deep throws.[8] Following the end of the season McDonald revealed that he had played through a sprained MCL and internal bleeding.[9][10]

As a redshirt junior, McDonald passed for 4,135 and 33 touchdowns with 14 interceptions while also rushing for 383 yards and seven touchdowns and was named second-team All-MWC.[11] Following the end of the season, he announced that he would forgo his final year of NCAA eligibility to enter the 2020 NFL Draft.[12]

Statistics

Season Team GP Passing Rushing
Cmp Att Pct Yds TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
2016 Hawaii 0 Redshirt Redshirt
2017 Hawaii 6 5 9 55.6 22 1 0 112.8 16 138 8.6 1
2018 Hawaii 13 285 484 58.9 3,875 36 10 146.5 134 359 2.7 4
2019 Hawaii 14 326 511 63.8 4,135 33 14 147.6 101 383 3.2 7
Career 33 616 1,004 61.4 8,032 70 24 146.8 251 880 3.5 12

Professional career

Pre-draft

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump
6 ft 3+1⁄8 in
(1.91 m) 		215 lb
(98 kg) 		32+1⁄4 in
(0.82 m) 		9+3⁄4 in
(0.25 m)		 4.58 s 1.60 s 2.70 s 4.52 s 7.13 s 36.0 in
(0.91 m)		 10 ft 1 in
(3.07 m)
All values from NFL Combine[13][14]

McDonald received an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine and recorded the fastest 40-yard dash among quarterbacks with a time of 4.58 seconds and the highest vertical jump at 36 inches.[15][16]

Tennessee Titans

McDonald was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the seventh round with the 224th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.[17] He was waived by the Titans on August 19, 2020.[18]

McDonald had a tryout with the Carolina Panthers on August 23, 2020.[19]

Arizona Cardinals

McDonald was signed to a futures contract with the Arizona Cardinals on February 4, 2021.[20] He was waived on May 27, 2021.[21]

Toronto Argonauts

On September 13, 2021, McDonald signed with the Toronto Argonauts and was placed on the team's practice roster.[22] He dressed as a backup for the last regular season game with the Argonauts resting starters for the playoffs. He completed four out of eight pass attempts for 45 yards and one interception. He was released on May 25, 2022, in the early stages of 2022 training camp.[23]

Houston Roughnecks

On November 15, 2022, McDonald was assigned to the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL.[24] He was released on December 15, 2023.[25]

References

  1. ^ Kinnan, Cory (February 10, 2020). "2020 NFL Draft: Hawai'i QB Cole McDonald worthy of mid-round flyer". WithTheFirstPick.com. FanSided. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  2. ^ "2016 Hawaii Football Recruiting: Hawaii lands QB Cole McDonald". Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  3. ^ Kramer, Adam (September 13, 2018). "Adam Kramer on College Football: Meet the 2-Star QB Lighting It Up for Hawaii". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  4. ^ McCracken, David (January 23, 2018). "Next man up: After Dru Brown's departure, 'Bows have limited options at quarterback". Hawaii News Now. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  5. ^ Lewis, Ferd (August 28, 2018). "After a season of using him conservatively, Warriors finally let McDonald cut loose". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  6. ^ "McDonald 'focused' on winning football games, not individual awards". KHON2.com. August 13, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  7. ^ "VIDEO and STORY: Hawaii's McDonald works out with Lunas". The Maui News. July 5, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  8. ^ Tsai, Stephen (August 24, 2019). "UH quarterback McDonald lives by creed of family, faith, friendship". West Hawaii Today. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  9. ^ Gaydos, Ryan (July 8, 2019). "Hawaii QB Cole McDonald reveals he was battling terrifying injury during 2018 season". FoxNews.com. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  10. ^ Crawford, Brad (July 7, 2019). "Hawaii QB Cole McDonald battled through gruesome injury in 2018". 247Sports.com. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  11. ^ "Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald declares for 2020 NFL Draft". Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  12. ^ Taylor, John (January 9, 2020). "QB Cole McDonald leaving Hawaii early for 2020 NFL Draft". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  13. ^ "Cole McDonald Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  14. ^ "2020 Draft Scout Cole McDonald, Hawaii NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  15. ^ Smith, Michael David (February 28, 2020). "Hawaii QB Cole McDonald turns in 4.58-second 40-yard dash". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  16. ^ Shimabuku, Christian (February 27, 2020). "Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald dazzles at NFL Combine". KHON2.com. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  17. ^ Alper, Josh (April 25, 2020). "Titans add QB Cole McDonald in seventh round". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  18. ^ Wyatt, Jim (August 19, 2020). "Titans Agree to Terms with QB Trevor Siemian, Three Others, During a Flurry of Roster Moves". TennesseeTitans.com. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  19. ^ @AlbertBreer (August 23, 2020). "And here's today's tryout/visit list. Ex-Ohio State QB Cardale Jones and ex-Lions RB Theo Riddick worked out for Vegas" (Tweet). Retrieved August 24, 2020 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ "Cardinals signing backup QB Cole McDonald". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  21. ^ Odegard, Kyle (May 27, 2021). "Cardinals Down To Three Quarterbacks With Release Of Cole McDonald". AZCardinals.com. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  22. ^ "Transactions – Football player trades and signings". Canadian Football League. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  23. ^ "Transactions – Football player trades and signings". Canadian Football League. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  24. ^ "Rosters for all eight XFL teams: Full draft results and where Vic Beasley, Martavis Bryant landed". ESPN.com. November 18, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  25. ^ "XFL Transactions". www.xfl.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023.

External links

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors starting quarterbacks
Tennessee Titans 2020 NFL Draft selections
Categories