If Will McDonald is terrorizing quarterbacks next season, the tortuous visions that Jets fans have of fellow rookies Jaxson Smith-Njigba catching touchdown passes and Anton Harrison keeping the pocket clean will fade away.
Until then, it will remain difficult to swallow that the Jets used their 2023 first-round draft choice on a defensive lineman who has played 15 percent of the snaps instead of addressing either the receiver or offensive line holes that have increased from concerning at the time to crippling during a 5-9 start.
“You always take the best available and [McDonald] is a fantastic pass rusher — he really is,” head coach Robert Saleh said before Friday’s practice.
“I’ve always said aside from quarterback, the D-line is as hard as any position to adapt to in the NFL because it’s a completely different game in there. So, I’m excited for him. He’s got a talent and a skill set that’s very rare, and as he continues to evolve and develop his skill set along with his body, he’s going to be a problem for a long time.”
The Jets plan to jumpstart the future by giving McDonald a bigger role over the final three games of the season, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich revealed this week.
It echoes what they did with Jermaine Johnson at the end of his rookie season in 2022.
“I’ve been taking advantage of my opportunities with the reps I’ve been getting, so I’m going to continue to do that,” McDonald said. “I’m taking after Jermaine [Johnson], Bryce [Huff] and them. They teach me everything I need to know so that when I get in I’m already ready for what I need to be doing.”
The Jets only can hope that McDonald develops like those two mentors.
Johnson has 6.5 sacks as the No. 24-ranked edge rusher in the league, by Pro Football Focus, and the undrafted Huff has eight in his breakthrough fourth season.
“I don’t want to put pressure on him in regard to comparing him to Jermaine,” Saleh said, “but … if he attacks the offseason in the way Jermaine attacked his [first] offseason, Will McDonald is going to be a superstar in this league.”
A superstar?
That’s a high bar for McDonald to meet when he has nine tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a forced missed field goal to show for his rookie season so far.
“All I can say is we’ll see. I can’t really speak for the future,” McDonald said. “This is my first year, and I feel like I’ve really improved in every aspect – run game, pass game, key concepts, becoming more familiar with offensive plays. Next year I feel like it’s going to get better and go up from that point.”
McDonald said he isn’t focused on living up to the first-round pick label.
“I don’t really care that much what people think,” McDonald said. “I know that I’m going to make this organization better while I’m here. While I do carry that status, I’m going to continue to improve and follow in the footsteps before me.”
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