2023 NFL draft: 10 biggest defensive standouts from 2023 East-West Shrine & Senior Bowl weeks

The 2022/23 NFL season is officially in the books, with the Kansas City Chiefs beating the Philadelphia Eagles in a tremendous back-and-forth Super Bowl. Now is the time to progress to offseason content, with free agency and a lengthy pre-draft process.

Some people may have already missed some of that, as we had a full week between the East-West Shrine and Senior Bowl events. We have three/four days of practice and a game each to break down, to see which young prospects have already stood out and helped showcase their talents to NFL scouts.

I watched every practice period and the games (to recap everything we saw in Las Vegas and Mobile respectively) and settled on ten players on each side of the ball, which I wanted to point out as early risers in the process. Plus, I added a few other names at the end, who I thought helped themselves.

I already talked about the offensive side earlier. So here's the defensive version:

#1. Will McDonald IV, Iowa State (Edge)

I really couldn’t settle on an edge defender from East-West Shrine week. Yet, at the Senior Bowl, I would say that was more of an underwhelming group, looking at Auburn’s Derick Hall, Notre Dame’s Isaiah Foskey and Army’s Andre Carter. So I thought it was appropriate to bring up a name that many considered part of that tier, but probably elevated his stock above those guys.

Will McDonald has been a very productive player for the Cyclones these last three years, combining for 33.5 tackles for loss, 27 sacks, eight forced fumbles and seven passes batted down at the line.

Iowa State EDGE Will McDonald IV breaks up the pass intended for Alabama TE Cameron Latu. #SeniorBowl https://t.co/MJ11OX9oM7

The question coming into the week was McDonald’s size, with more of a lanky build at 6’3” ½ and 241 pounds. Yet, I didn’t feel like he was lacking that strength in run defense, being the first to attack with his hands and anchoring against angular blocks routinely.

He stood his ground against Tennessee’s Darnell Wright a couple of times, who weighed in at 342 pounds (basically exactly 100 more than McDonald). So while some of his tape would suggest he may have issues setting a physical edge, we now have evidence that as a true base D-end/outside linebacker, he can take care at the point of attack. That being said, what he did as a pass-rusher was obviously what turned the heads of NFL scouts.

The Spin Doctor

Meet Will Mcdonald IV, Edge, Iowa State
6'3.5 241lbs
✅️Plays stronger than his size
✅️High Motor
✅️Very long arms
✅️Is known for his spin move
Put up elite stats 20'-21' but was asked to move/play out of position more in 22'
Check Thread⬇️ https://t.co/ioT5ocDasn

Watching him run the hoop drill, you saw that ankle mobility and bend to circle around, which directly translates to rushing the passer. He had a couple of reps during the week, where he cleanly defeated the hands of the tackle with a double-hand swipe or chop-rip.

If that guy was still able to get a hand on him, he would stay on that arc, once even doing so on all fours basically. Off that, he then put a wicked spin move on Tennessee’s right tackle on the second of back-to-back reps one-on-one (after threatening the corner and then stepping into the blocker’s space), in order to make him commit on the latter.

That ability to take the inside door opening as guys had to overset to the outside came into play on day three as well. Later during the red zone team period, you saw McDonald’s closing burst when Shepherd QB Tyson Bagent left the pocket the other way and the D-end would’ve run him down like a lion hunting an antelope (if not for pulling up late, to avoid pushing him in the back).