Cole McDonald: Philadelphia Eagles
Speaking of quarterbacks who are fun to talk to…
McDonald might have been my favorite quarterback to chat with while out in Indianapolis. The aggression as a passer and the swagger as an athlete came through during his entire podium session, even when Trevor Sikkema from The Draft Network asked him the question that was on everybody’s mind: What happened to the dreadlocks?
Cole McDonald addresses the change in hair styles. H/T @TampaBayTre for the question pic.twitter.com/rIPJfjyZao
— Mark Schofield (@MarkSchofield) February 25, 2020
“Hair grows back, opportunity doesn’t.”
McDonald was the darling of the summer scouting season, when many scouts in the media (myself included) thought he flashed the potential to really climb draft boards. But his 2019 season was a roller coaster. He threw four touchdowns in the season opener against Arizona, but also threw four interceptions and found himself benched. His mechanics seemed too loopy and his decision-making was flawed.
But his ended the season on a very strong note, leading a game-winning drive against BYU in the Hawaii Bowl (more on that in a moment). But his mechanics seemed tighter by the end of the season and his decision-making was still aggressive, but not dangerously so. So I find myself believing again.
McDonald will face questions about the run-and-shoot system he comes from, but when you hear him describe it, and he did to me, you will understand how he can make the transition to the NFL. I asked him what his favorite concept to run was, and his answer is instructive:
We call it a streak read. Out of a 2×2 formation. In the run and shoot, we’re a counter-based offense so what that allows our receivers to do is to read the defense pre- and post-snap. So off of one route we have five different options depending on the coverage, whether it’s zone or man. So basically you can’t be wrong. As long as the receiver and myself are on the same page, and we’re executing at a high level and being efficient and getting the ball out quick…there’s a lot that will be going on.
The beauty of the run-and-shoot is that it has an answer for everything, like McDonald describes. Every route has multiple conversions and based on the coverage, every route will have a chance to get open provided the quarterback and the receiver are on the same page. So despite the conventional wisdom, the run-and-shoot puts a lot on the quarterback’s plate in terms of deciphering coverages and making the right reads and decisions.
That is something you see in every NFL playbook.
The fit in Philadelphia makes sense because many of Doug Pederson’s concepts, while rooted in West Coast philosophy, also task the quarterback and receivers with converting their routes based on what they see from the defense. Take their halfback read design:
Look at all the conversions for these routes, on one design.
McDonald’s background in the run-and-shoot has him ready to run an offense like this, and with his improved mechanics and prowess throwing underneath and in the short areas of the field, he would be an ideal fit for this system. But there is one more element to discuss, which is the aggression he brings to the table. Late in the season when the Eagles got more aggressive in the passing game, they had success and made their run to the playoffs. At the end of that game against BYU, on the game-winning drive, McDonald passed up a wide open shallow route on a 3rd and 1 to take a hole shot along the left sideline. I asked him about it, and here’s what he said:
You know, especially in our offense. Even on third down, fourth down, we’re gonna let it rip. We’re gonna throw where the defense tells us to throw. Like I said we’re a big counter-based offense so if they’re going to play that little out-route that we were running, I’m going to take advantage of that holeshot over the top. It doesn’t matter if it’s third and one or fourth and long. We’re gonna run our offense to the best of our ability.
That mentality would serve him well in the Eagles’ offense, given how it looked at the end of 2019.