With the two-hundred twenty-fourth pick in the 2020 NFL Draft the Tennessee Titans chose Hawaii Quarterback Cole McDonald. A very intriguing pick for the Titans! I didn't really think about it prior to the draft but the Titans did probably need a third quarterback on the team. I like our QB1 but our current backup Logan Woodside is a bit unproven despite looking decent in practice and the pre-season and stuff like that. Adding a third body in the quarterback room is very nice for competition and overall depth and whatnot.
New Titans quarterback Cole McDonald appears to be on the raw side when it comes to his throwing motion. He sort of has a long winding unorthodox delivery. Pretty strong arm. He appears to be practicing to improve his delivery to become a more cleaner and sharper and quicker passer. But no doubt, he can throw decently well. He has some nice deep passes on his highlight tape and he has put up some very nice numbers in college. In two seasons as a starter he passed for over 8,000 yards. Despite his possible sub-par NFL throwing motion, it's not entirely bad. He ran his offense well at Hawaii and in his two seasons as the starter his team won eighteen games.
Another obvious and very positive trait for Cole McDonald is his tremendous speed and athleticism. He has some impressive tape where he just absolutely burns defenses down the sidelines. He boasted the fastest forty-yard dash time among all quarterbacks at the 2020 NFL Combine. He was also the highest vertical leaper among all quarterbacks at the combine.
His attitude and demeanor seems very positive and good. He seems like a cool guy and he kind of already has become a bit of a fan favorite. It's the intrigue and mysteriousness of the pick probably. Unexpected pick. He isn't from Hawaii but he went to college there. The connection is enough for some fans to point out that former Titans QB Marcus Mariota is Hawaiian and I guess fans like the slight similarity there. I guess it's kind of cool.
Overall this guy is just a seventh round pick and may never see the light of day on an NFL Sunday for all I know. We have a quality franchise quarterback that I am one-hundred percent happy with. Of course injuries and depth are important yada-yada-yada.
One last thing that does intrigue me about this selection though is indeed McDonald's speed and mobility. Last season after Marcus Mariota was benched, the Titans would rather randomly and sparingly bring Mariota in for a wildcat or even just like occasional shotgun formation. It was mildly effective but sometimes very effective, and it especially helped in terms of giving the opposing defense something to think about. Mariota also reportedly helped significantly when it came to preparing for the team's Divisional Playoff game against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in January 2020 since Mariota has a similar skillset as Lamar Jackson.
I wonder if the Titans plan to maybe continue or even expand on that Mariota package in 2020 with McDonald! Many teams are seemingly trying to copy the Saints and what they do with Taysom Hill.
Overall, McDonald is a solid and unique prospect that I am glad the Titans picked up! At the end of the day it's good to bring in talent the team can try and develop. We shall see what the future holds for Cole McDonald.
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