Jets edge rusher Will McDonald wants to keep opponents guessing

Will McDonald underwent some big changes, physically and mentally, to try and prove that he’s no one-hit wonder.

After leading the Jets in sacks last season, McDonald added 15 pounds of muscle to his frame. The third-year edge rusher “pounded food,” eating six meals a day and weighs close to 250 pounds now.

McDonald always had quickness, bend and a spin move that got opposing tackles off balance. Now he’s mixing in a power game and beating them with his strength — and it has shown early in training camp.

“I'm out here ballin’,” McDonald said. “That's what I'm going to keep doing.”

McDonald, a first-round pick in 2023, took a giant leap last season. He had 10.5 sacks and led the Jets’ defensive line in snaps played. As a rookie, McDonald had three sacks and was eighth in snaps across the D-line.

Haason Reddick’s lengthy holdout last season and Jermaine Johnson tearing his Achilles tendon in Week 2 opened the door for McDonald to play more and show he can be a disruptive pass rusher. McDonald burst through that door and now he’s looking to take another step in 2025.

“I think one thing that I was missing last year was my consistency,” McDonald said. “If you don't have change, then you're not doing something right. So to me it's just continuing to change and just to get better and win every day has been my mindset.”

McDonald has been sharpening his skills on Armand Membou in camp. The rookie right tackle said there are times when he’s matched up on McDonald that he thinks to himself, ‘How did he do that?’” Membou experienced a couple of those on Saturday.

McDonald beat Membou with his spin move for a would-be sack on Tyrod Taylor. A few plays later, he ran Membou over, knocking him to the ground. This is new, but McDonald said it was always there.

“It was already added,” McDonald said. “I just never really utilized it as well as I should. I had to change my approach with everything.

“Obviously, everybody knows that I like [to use] speed, spin, all of that. But once I get tackles on their heels, I'm able to get that power and that strength in.”

McDonald knows the scouting report on him has been beating guys with speed, but now he likes that he will be able to keep offensive linemen guessing.

“I don't really try to play chess. I want to put the pieces on the board for myself,” he said. “So in that aspect, it's really them against me and it's really me against five. That's really my mindset. Just getting them to do what I want them to do and whether it be [using] speed, power, whatever I do, just continuing to change my game.”

Aaron Glenn said McDonald can set the edge better because of the extra weight and strength. Over the weekend, Glenn said that “coaching” is the reason that McDonald is showing he can win with power. Glenn tried clarifying that since it seemed as a dig at former Jets coach Robert Saleh and his defensive staff.

Saleh often said the next thing in McDonald’s development was beating tackles with power. Glenn, the Jets' first-year coach, credited McDonald for asking to be pushed hard.

“The player wants to be really, really good, and, to me, that was the number one thing,” Glenn said. “The first thing that he said when he came to my office, he really wants to be good, so now he wants to be coached on how to be able to do that.

“When I kept saying, ‘It's coaching,’ that's what I was talking about. He wants to be coached. He wants to be coached hard and he wants to be coached how to do it the right way. And our guys are going to continue to do that with him.”

Glenn won’t put a ceiling on McDonald, but he believes “he’s going to do a lot of damage in this league,” with his ability to rush with speed off the edge and power.

“I know this,” Glenn said, “he's a damn good player and I expect big things out of him.”