The Tennessee Titans drafted Hawaii product Cole McDonald in the seventh round (No. 224) of the 2020 NFL Draft to compete with Logan Woodside for the backup quarterback job in 2020.
Even if he loses that battle, the Titans have netted themselves an intriguing developmental quarterback who has the goods to make an impact down the road.
Here are three things to know about the team’s newest signal-caller.
Top-3 passing yards
McDonald was highly productive the past two years with Hawaii. He posted over 8,000 passing yards and 69 touchdowns to 14 picks in that span.
In 2019, McDonald’s 4,135 passing yards were third in the FBS behind Joe Burrow (No. 1) and Anthony Gordon (No. 2). His 33 passing touchdowns also landed him in the top 10.
Granted, McDonald didn’t exactly have fierce competition thanks to the division he played in, but then again it’s better than putting up pedestrian numbers against that level of competition.
Dual threat
There’s three big positives you’ll hear about McDonald the most: he has a big arm, great size (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) and the athleticism to make plays with his legs.
McDonald posted a solid 40-yard dash time of 4.58 seconds, which is a great fit for a Titans offense that benefits from the athleticism and ability to improvise of its current starter, Ryan Tannehill.
McDonald can also push the ball downfield and has displayed some impressive deep-ball accuracy in some of his college highlights, giving him even more potential to be a quality NFL quarterback.
McDonald clearly brings more to the table than Woodside, which could give him an edge in a competition. Now all he has to do is hone his skills from now until the end of training camp.
Throwing motion needs work
One of the biggest key to success for the rookie will be his ability to improve his throwing motion, as Draft Wire’s Patrick Conn explained in his scouting report of the signal-caller.
On the topic of his release, a lot more issues arise when you look at his throwing set up. He takes too long to get the ball through his wind up and throw. Being just a tick quicker could be the difference in a complete catch and run by a receiver or a pick six going the other way when you allow a defensive back to close on the play.
McDonald clearly saw this as an issue and made some adjustments in his final collegiate season to start the process of fixing it.
After declaring for the draft, the Hawaii product worked on his release with respected quarterback guru Jordan Palmer, per Stephen Tsai of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
If he can get that straightened out, McDonald could see improved timing on short to intermediate passes and accuracy on all types of throws, which will undoubtedly help make him a quality signal-caller.
