Cooper McDonald: LB · TCU · #44.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Cooper McDonald
Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. Played for three head coaches at three programs in five seasons: Jimmy Lake, Brady Hoke and Sonny Dykes. A game that shows it: 4 tackles and 1 sack against Houston — Week 6, 2024.
Play style
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
25 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | TCU | 25 | 11 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 1 |
| 2023 | San Diego State | 39 | 20 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 2 |
| 2022 | San Diego State | 41 | 26 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 2 |
| 2021 | Washington | 25 | 18 | 5.0 | 1.0 | -- |
| 2020 | Washington | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 |
| Career | 132 | 76 | 19.5 | 7.5 | 6 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 8 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-27@ Stanford | 4 | 1 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | Season-high 4 tackles |
| Wk 2 | W 45-0vs Long Island University | 4 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 34-35vs UCF | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 4 | L 42-66@ SMU | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 38-27vs Kansas | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 19-30vs Houston | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 49-28vs Arizona | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 20-13@ Cincinnati | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 11 | 5.0 | 3.0 | — | 1 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
25tackles this seasonTFL rate
20%5 TFLSack rate
12%3 sacksPD rate
4%1 pass breakups25 tackles · 5 for loss · 3 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 3.5 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Road3g | 2.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 3.7 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Sonny Dykes
Pass share
55.7%
487 pass / 387 run
Plays / game
67.2
13 games
Team sack rate
3.1%
489 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Player standing · 2024
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS linebackers who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #317 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons, at Washington, San Diego State and TCU, 132 tackles — the college career is complete.
Played for three programs.
The role got bigger.
Coaching lineage · 2020–2024
4 coachesPlayed for 4 head coaches at 3 schools: Jimmy Lake, Bob Gregory, Brady Hoke and Sonny Dykes.
