Iowa State has an NFL Draft first-round selection for the first time in half a century.
Defensive end Will McDonald was selected by the New York Jets with the 15th pick on Thursday in Kansas City, ending a drought that dated back to 1973 when the Houston Oilers selected George Amundsen with the 14th pick.
McDonald’s name was already etched into the program’s history after he finished his career as the program’s all-time leader in sacks with 34, which also tied the Big 12 career record.
The Milwaukee native burst onto the scene during the second half of the 2019 season after switching to the defensive line from linebacker. He recorded 15 tackles and six sacks, with five of the six coming in the program’s last four games of the year.
In 2020, McDonald emerged as one of the best pass rushers in all of college football, earning first-team All-Big 12 honors for the first time after recording a Big 12-leading 10.5 sacks while helping Iowa State to its best season in school history, a berth in the Big 12 title game and a Fiesta Bowl victory.
He earned All-American honors for the first time in 2021 by breaking his own school record for sacks with 11.5 and recording 14 tackles for loss, which ranked second in the Big 12. He was also named the Big 12’s co-Defensive Lineman of the Year.
Despite facing double or triple teams and being held consistently on a weekly basis, McDonald was just as dominant as a senior even if the statistics don’t reflect that fact. The first-team All-Big 12 selection recorded 36 tackles, a team-high five sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss, seven quarterback hurries, four pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
In his career, McDonald posted 123 total tackles, 42 tackles for loss, 34 sacks, 10 forced fumbles, eight passes defended and one fumble recovery. He played on some of the best defenses in Iowa State history, including the 2022 bunch, which led the Big 12 in pass defense, rushing defense and scoring defense.
The former three-star recruit chose Iowa State over Minnesota and Baylor, then went on to become one of the best to ever wear a Cyclone uniform and the man to break one of the program’s longest-running bad streaks.
All who watched it happen will tell you there will never be another quite like Will McDonald in cardinal and gold.
