The Kansas City Chiefs can no longer host prospects on pre-draft visits after the April 19 deadline, but information about who they hosted continues to trickle in.
According to Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline, the Chiefs were among nearly a dozen NFL teams to have hosted Iowa State edge rusher Will McDonald IV on a top-30 visit. He had more requests for visits according to Pauline, but he had to turn those requests down due to time constraints. It’s interesting that he had so many requested visits, which suggests that he has more unanswered questions both on the field and off the field that teams are interested in.
One thing that they already know, McDonald is an explosive athlete. He posted a 36-inch vertical jump and an 11-foot broad jump at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine. At his pro day, he ran a 4.66s 40-yard dash, 4.09s short shuttle and a 6.79s three-cone. That explosion and athleticism translate to the field as he has one of the best get-offs in the class and bends the turns the edge with the best of them.
Official 30 visit list for McDonald- Packers, Bears, Cowboys, Bucs, Eagles, Bills, Vikings, Giants, Cards, Seahawks, Chiefs. Had to turn down half dozen visits due to time retraints https://t.co/REsZutIDHk
— Tony Pauline (@TonyPauline) April 19, 2023
Another reason that Kansas City likely sought to get McDonald in the building is that he’d be a huge departure from the norm for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. He meets the height (6-foot-4) and arm length (35 inches) thresholds, but he’s well below the weight threshold at 239 pounds.
The big fear here is that without added weight, McDonald will not be able to do his part in run support and will only be used as a situational pass rusher. He did seem to put on some additional weight from the combine to his pro day, but will it be enough? Steve Spagnuolo likes to have defensive ends who can play both the run and the pass effectively as a means to “earn the right to rush the passer.”
