The Tennessee Titans have found a solid starting quarterback in Ryan Tannehill, who posted a career season last year, but it’s important to have a reliable signal-caller behind him in the event he misses time due to injury or COVID-19.
The Titans still have Logan Woodside on the roster heading into the 2020 season, but added Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald in the seventh round of this year’s draft.
McDonald has some developing to do, but also brings exciting things to the table, like his big arm and elite athleticism.
It’s also worth noting that he boasted the highest average depth of target among FBS quarterbacks (12.0) since 2018, according to Pro Football Focus.
Highest average depth of target among FBS QBs since 2018:
1. Cole McDonald – 12.0 🚀 #Titanup pic.twitter.com/fidV9lZ3wW
— PFF TEN Titans (@PFF_Titans) August 10, 2020
Over three seasons with the Rainbow Warriors, McDonald completed 61.4 percent of his passes for 8,032 yards, with 70 touchdowns and 24 interceptions. In 2019, he finished behind only LSU’s Joe Burrow and Washington State’s Anthony Gordon in passing yards with 4,135.
The battle for the backup position will come down to McDonald and Woodside, who hasn’t proven enough to this point that he’s worthy of being anything more than a player on the practice squad.
McDonald obviously comes in as a very raw prospect with a lack of experience in the NFL, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think we could see him take the No. 2 spot sooner rather than later.
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