You hear coaches and GMs constantly say: “You can’t have enough good pass rushers.”
So while the Jets’ selection of Iowa State defensive end Will McDonald in the 2023 first round didn’t seem like a need at the time, the pick is now looking like a masterstroke, with the recent season-ending injury to DE Jermaine Johnson and the holdout of Haason Reddick.
McDonald has five sacks through the Jets’ first three games, and where would they be without him?
While McDonald’s first season was nondescript, he’s exploded in year two, with his hard work from this past offseason paying off.
“His approach this offseason, this training camp, and the early part of this season has been a 180 flip,” said Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. “It’s not necessarily that it was bad last year, it’s just he was a rookie and he was young. He was finding his way and he was learning how to operate in this League and be successful in this League.
“He’s just been intentional and deliberate about everything that he’s done. His confidence as he plays well gets better and better and better.”
And his emergence came at the perfect time when a position that seemed loaded in the off-season is now a little thin.
So it’s so true – you can never have enough good pass rushers.
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