Ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 7 showdown with the New York Jets, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin lauded Jets defensive end Will McDonald for his remarkable leap in his second season. Tomlin even said McDonald was among his “two favorite rushers” in the 2023 draft class.
“They are an aggressive group that has a lot of top-quality players up front,” Tomlin said of the Jets’ defensive line. “I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about Will McDonald, a second-year player who is playing really well and displaying game-wrecker characteristics. We looked at him a lot in draft prep when he came out. To be honest, my two favorite rushers in that draft were him and [Nick] Herbig. Not surprised that he is doing it to the level that he is doing it.”
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Pittsburgh selected Herbig in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft. In five games this season, Herbig has 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery on just 79 pass-rush snaps.
The Jets selected McDonald with the 15th overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Although he played a limited role as a rookie, logging just 184 defensive snaps, he showcased his potential with 3.0 sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery on only 99 pass-rush snaps.
This season, McDonald’s playing time has increased significantly due to the absence of Haason Reddick and the season-ending Achilles injury to Jermaine Johnson. With 233 defensive snaps in six games, McDonald has already played nearly 50 more snaps than last season.
The Iowa State product has taken full advantage of his increased playing time, emerging as the Jets’ most productive pass rusher through the first three games. McDonald currently ranks second in the league with 7.0 sacks, just half a sack behind Aidan Hutchinson of the Detroit Lions, who suffered a season-ending injury last Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
If McDonald can vault himself into the NFL’s top spot on the sack leaderboard this Sunday, it would go a long way toward helping the Jets snap their three-game losing streak. He could have a good chance to do it against Steelers right tackle Broderick Jones, who leads right tackles with five sacks allowed this season.
In the 2023 draft, Jones was selected one spot ahead of McDonald after Pittsburgh traded up with the New England Patriots. Jones was a player who the Jets were rumored to be interested in, and Tomlin later hinted that the Patriots made the move to keep Jones away from their division rivals.
Now, the former first-round picks will meet head-to-head in a pivotal AFC battle.
