Tennessee Titans: Grading the 2020 NFL Draft class, pick-by-pick analysis
Quarterback. Cole McDonald. Positional Ranking and Analysis. 7a. player. 35. Pick Analysis. Hawaii
Draft Grade: A-
Outside of the seven “big-named” quarterback prospects in the 2020 NFL Draft that everyone expected to get drafted on one of the first two days of the draft (Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, Tua Tagovailoa, Jacob Eason, Jalen Hurts and Jake Fromm), Cole McDonald was my favorite quarterback prospect.
QB8 for me in the 2020 NFL Draft, Cole McDonald is a very polarizing player. There are to things that stand out about him when you first start watching him: his dreadlocks and his wacky throwing motion.
Cole McDonald really has one of the strangest throwing motions I have ever seen. As you can sort of see in the picture above, McDonald’s motion is rather wide, circular and over the top. But as strange as it looks, he still gets the ball out quickly and accurately.
McDonald has great zip on his ball, fitting throws into very tight windows. He has good size for an NFL quarterback and is able to get through his progressions very well. He will have occasional erratic throws leading to some unnecessary turnovers, but he makes some real eye-popping throws.
I really like this fit for McDonald. At Hawaii, McDonald excelled operating a quick-hitting, RPO heavy, occasional deep shot offense which is very similar to what the Tennessee Titans do with Ryan Tannehill right now.
In the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Cole McDonald will be a great insurance policy should Tannehill not pan out for whatever reason. He is a solid player that could fill in early in his career if needed but has a really promising ceiling given some time to develop.