 McDonald with the Argonauts in 2021 | |||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | (1998-05-20)May 20, 1998 (age 26) La Mirada, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Sonora High School (La Habra, California) | ||||||||
| College: | Hawaii (2016–2019) | ||||||||
| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2020: 7th round, 224th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career CFL statistics as of 2022 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Cole McDonald (born May 20, 1998) is an American professionalfootballquarterback who is a free agent. He playedcollege football for theHawaii Rainbow Warriors and was selected by theTennessee Titans in the seventh round of the2020 NFL draft.
McDonald was born inLa Mirada, California, and grew up inLa Habra, California. He attendedSonora High School where he playedfootball and ran track.[1] As a senior, McDonald completed 63% of his passes for 2,313 yards and 19touchdowns while also rushing for 1,091 yards and 10 touchdowns.[2] McDonald was lightly recruited in high school and initially received no scholarship offers fromDivision I schools. He initially intended on playing at a junior college for a year until he received a last-minute offer from Hawaii coachNick Rolovich the night before national signing day.[3]
McDonaldredshirted his true freshman season. As a redshirt freshman, McDonald served as the Rainbow Warriors's backupquarterback and played in six games, completing five of nine passes for 22 yards and a touchdown and finishing third on the team in rushing with 138 and one touchdown on 16 carries.[4][5] He was named the team's starting quarterback going into his redshirt sophomore season and passed for 3,875 yards and 36 touchdowns and was named honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference (MWC).[6][7] He tightened his motion after consulting quarterbacks coachCraig Stutzmann and completed 38 percent of his deep throws.[8] Following the end of the season McDonald revealed that he had played through a sprainedMCL and internal bleeding.[9][10]
As a redshirt junior, McDonald passed for 4,135 and 33 touchdowns with 14interceptions while also rushing for 383 yards and seven touchdowns and was named second-team All-MWC.[11] Following the end of the season, he announced that he would forgo his final year ofNCAA eligibility to enter the2020 NFL draft.[12]
| Hawaii Rainbow Warriors | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | GP | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||||
| 2016 | 0 |  Redshirt | |||||||||||||
| 2017 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 55.6 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 112.8 | 16 | 138 | 8.6 | 1 | |||
| 2018 | 13 | 285 | 484 | 58.9 | 3,875 | 36 | 10 | 146.5 | 134 | 359 | 2.7 | 4 | |||
| 2019 | 14 | 326 | 511 | 63.8 | 4,135 | 33 | 14 | 147.6 | 101 | 383 | 3.2 | 7 | |||
| Career | 33 | 616 | 1,004 | 61.4 | 8,032 | 70 | 24 | 146.8 | 251 | 880 | 3.5 | 12 | |||
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft3+1⁄8 in (1.91 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | 32+1⁄4 in (0.82 m) | 9+3⁄4 in (0.25 m) | 4.58 s | 1.60 s | 2.70 s | 4.52 s | 7.13 s | 36.0 in (0.91 m) | 10 ft 1 in (3.07 m) | ||
| All values fromNFL Combine[13][14] | ||||||||||||
McDonald received an invitation to theNFL Scouting Combine and recorded the fastest40-yard dash among quarterbacks with a time of 4.58 seconds and the highestvertical jump at 36 inches.[15][16]
McDonald was drafted by theTennessee Titans in the seventh round with the 224th overall pick of the2020 NFL draft.[17] He was waived by the Titans on August 19, 2020.[18]
McDonald had a tryout with theCarolina Panthers on August 23, 2020.[19]
McDonald was signed to a futures contract with theArizona Cardinals on February 4, 2021.[20] He was waived on May 27, 2021.[21]
On September 13, 2021, McDonald signed with theToronto Argonauts and was placed on the team'spractice roster.[22] He dressed as a backup for the last regular season game with the Argonauts resting starters for the playoffs. He completed four out of eight pass attempts for 45 yards and one interception. He was released on May 25, 2022, in the early stages of 2022training camp.[23]
On November 15, 2022, McDonald was assigned to theHouston Roughnecks of theXFL.[24] He was released on December 15, 2023.[25]
On May 28, 2024, McDonald signed with theEdmonton Elks of theCanadian Football League.[26] He was released on June 2.[27]