Cole McDonald (born May 20, 1998) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL draft.
Early life
McDonald was born in La Mirada, California, and grew up in La Habra, California. He attended Sonora High School where he played football and ran track.
As a senior, McDonald completed 63% of his passes for 2,313 yards and 19
touchdowns while also rushing for 1,091 yards and 10 touchdowns.
McDonald was lightly recruited in high school and initially received no scholarship offers from Division I schools. He initially intended on playing at a junior college for a year until he received a last-minute offer from Hawaii coach
Nick Rolovich the night before national signing day.
College career
McDonald
redshirted his true freshman season. As a redshirt freshman, McDonald served as the Rainbow Warriors's backup
quarterback and played in six games, completing five of nine passes for 22 yards and a touchdown and finishing third on the team in rushing with 138 and one touchdown on 16 carries.
2018 season
He was named the team's starting quarterback going into his redshirt sophomore season and passed for 3,875 yards and 36 touchdowns and was named honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference (MWC).
He tightened his motion after consulting quarterbacks coach
Craig Stutzmann and completed 38 percent of his deep throws.
Following the end of the season McDonald revealed that he had played through a sprained MCL and internal bleeding.
2019 season
As a redshirt junior, McDonald passed for 4,135 and 33 touchdowns with 14
while also rushing for 383 yards and seven touchdowns and was named second-team All-MWC.
McDonald threw for 4 touchdowns but also 4 interceptions in the Rainbow Warriors' first game of the season against Arizona, stopping Arizona quarterback
Khalil Tate at the 1-yard line for the 45-38 win. In their next game against Oregon State, Hawaii came back from a 21-7 deficit in the second quarter to win 31-28. He had a strong performance in a 54-3 road thrashing against Nevada, completing 25 of his 30 passes and throwing for 312 yards and 4 touchdowns. Following the end of the season, he announced that he would forgo his final year of
NCAA eligibility to enter the 2020 NFL draft.
Statistics
Professional career
Pre-draft
McDonald received an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine and recorded the fastest 40-yard dash among quarterbacks with a time of 4.58 seconds and the highest
vertical jump at 36 inches.
Tennessee Titans
McDonald was selected by the
Tennessee Titans in the seventh round with the 224th overall pick of the 2020 NFL draft.
He was waived by the Titans on August 19, 2020.
McDonald had a tryout with the Carolina Panthers on August 23, 2020.
Arizona Cardinals
McDonald was signed to a futures contract with the Arizona Cardinals on February 4, 2021.
He was waived on May 27, 2021.
Toronto Argonauts
On September 13, 2021, McDonald signed with the Toronto Argonauts and was placed on the team's
practice roster.
He dressed as a backup for the last regular season game with the Argonauts resting starters for the playoffs. He completed four out of eight pass attempts for 45 yards and one interception. He was released on May 25, 2022, in the early stages of 2022 training camp.
Houston Roughnecks
On November 15, 2022, McDonald was assigned to the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL.
He was released on December 15, 2023.
Edmonton Elks
On May 28, 2024, McDonald signed with the
Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League.
He was released on June 2.
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