Welcome to the 25th daily installment of the NFL Draft 1-through-32 series on DK Pittsburgh Sports, intended to introduce you, a prospect at a time, to the top 32 players in the class on a consensus basis, leading right up to the main event.
That, of course, will be April 27-29, in Kansas City, Mo., though all 32 teams, including the Steelers on the South Side, will operate from their local headquarters.
NO. 25: WILL McDONALD IV
Iowa State defensive end
McDonald is the No. 25-rated player on Pro Football Focus' big board. A speed rusher who mostly played in the four- and five-technique at Iowa State, McDonald stands out as a prototypical 3-4 pass rusher.
COLLEGE BACKGROUND
A three-time first-team All-Big 12 (coaches) and 2021 All-American (FWAA, Phil Steele), McDonald holds in a tie as the Big 12's career sacks leader with 34.0, a mark which is first in Iowa State program history. His 10 career forced fumbles are tied for most in ISU history, and his 42.0 tackles for loss are second in ISU history behind JaQuan Bailey's 44.5. He totaled 123 tackles in his career, which means 34% of his tackles went for loss and 27.6% of his tackles were counted as sacks.
That said, McDonald had a "down" year by that standard in 12 games in 2022. His 7.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks were his lowest totals since his 6.0 TFLs and 6.0 sacks in the 2019 season. Between 2020 and 2021, McDonald compiled 27.5 TFLs and 22.0 sacks.
A consensus three-star recruit out of Waukesha, Wis., McDonald had only two football offers out of high school: Iowa State and New Mexico. He measured at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds as a senior in high school in the class of 2018.
NFL COMBINE, PRO DAY
The 23-year-old measured at 6-foot-4, 239 pounds with a 34 7/8-inch arm length and a 9 1/2-inch hand width at the NFL Combine. McDonald's athleticism score of 82 ranked fifth among Combine edge rushers.
Battling a fever of 103 degrees, McDonald still tested in the vertical and broad jumps at the Combine. His 36-inch vertical finished sixth among Combine DEs, and his 11-foot broad jump tied for first with Tennessee's Byron Young among Combine DEs.
NFL Analyst Lance Zierlein compared McDonald to Denver edge rusher Randy Gregory in his post-Combine evaluation.
At his pro day in Ames, Iowa, McDonald ran a 4.70 40-yard dash, registered a 35.5-inch vertical, and ran a 6.85 three-cone and a 4.22 shuttle. The three-cone and shuttle times would have been the fastest among DEs at the Combine.
MOCK DRAFT
The USA Today mock draft consensus tracker and our own latest mock draft have McDonald selected outside of the first round.
McDonald is the first player in our 1-through-32 series and within PFF's big board which did not mock inside of the first round.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE STEELERS' STANDPOINT
As mentioned in my capsules of Nolan Smith and Myles Murphy, the Steelers could opt away from a stand-up rusher like McDonald and Smith and gravitate more towards a player like Murphy who could play down on the line. Why? Because the depth on the 3-4 edge is already there with T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith leading the way.
That said, though, Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan, Teryl Austin, and Dan Rooney, Jr., attended the Iowa State pro day March 21 among several choices including USC and Auburn, which were held the same day, to see McDonald. This could indicate McDonald as an option more in the pick 32 or 49 range, rather than being an option in the first round at No. 17.
According to Pro Football Network, McDonald had dinner with Steelers brass the evening before his pro day workout.
COREY'S TAKE
The athleticism is there, and the pass-rush repertoire is there. I just don't see McDonald as a first-round talent, either, especially in comparison to Smith once we get down the list of pass rushers. That said, his production from Iowa State is undeniable and can make a team happy in the second round.
THE REST
1. Alabama QB Bryce Young
2. Georgia DT Jalen Carter
3. Alabama DE Will Anderson Jr.
4. Kentucky QB Will Levis
5. Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud
6. Florida QB Anthony Richardson
7. Illinois CB Devon Witherspoon
8. Texas Tech DE Tyree Wilson
9. TCU WR Quentin Johnston
10. Oregon CB Christian Gonzalez
11. Northwestern OT Peter Skoronski
12. Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
13. Pitt DT Calijah Kancey
14. Iowa DE Lukas Van Ness
15. Utah TE Dalton Kincaid
16. Maryland CB Deonte Banks
17. Alabama S Brian Branch
18. Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr.
19. Ohio State OT Paris Johnson Jr.
20. Tennessee OT Darnell Wright
21. Clemson DT Bryan Bresee
22. Georgia DE Nolan Smith
23. Clemson DE Myles Murphy
24. Oklahoma OT Anton Harrison
