Kayden McDonald: DL · Ohio State · #98.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Kayden McDonald
Controls the point of attack and doesn't move. Three seasons in the Ohio State defensive front to date. First career honor, 2025: All-America (Consensus). One game to point at: 8 tackles against Penn State — Week 10, 2025.
Play style
The heaviest frame on the interior. Sack production is intentionally not the point of this profile.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
65 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 9 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.
Los Angeles Times Nov 1
Eleven Warriors Oct 29Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Ohio State | 65 | 31 | 9.0 | 3.0 | 1 |
| 2024 | Ohio State | 19 | 7 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 |
| 2023 | Ohio State | 1 | -- | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 |
| Career | 85 | 38 | 11.0 | 3.0 | 3 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 14 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 14-7vs No. 1 Texas | 8 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 70-0vs Grambling | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 37-9vs Ohio | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 24-6@ Washington | 7 | 4 | 3.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 6 | W 42-3vs Minnesota | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 34-16@ No. 17 Illinois | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 34-0@ Wisconsin | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 38-14vs Penn State | 8 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 34-10@ Purdue | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 48-10vs UCLA | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 42-9vs Rutgers | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 27-9@ No. 15 Michigan | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 15 | L 10-13vs No. 2 Indiana | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 14-24vs No. 10 Miami | 8 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 65 | 31 | 9.0 | 3.0 | — | 1 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
14%9 TFLSack rate
5%3 sacksHurry rate
3%2 hurries65 tackles · 9 for loss · 3 sacks.
3 seasons under Ryan Day — 37-6 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 14 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 4.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 4.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 4.9 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 4.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Ryan Day
Pass share
47.0%
408 pass / 461 run
Plays / game
62.1
14 games
Team sack rate
3.3%
395 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
First team on every major selector list.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #10 at the position.
Selector Grid · 2025
Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.
How it ended
Three seasons at Ohio State, 3 sacks, a Unanimous All-American season (2025) — drafted at #36 overall by the Houston Texans.
A blue-chip recruit with honors.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA · UNANIMOUS
Unanimous AA (2025)
Named to 11 first-team selectors
ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM
All-Big Ten 1st team (2025)
Coaching lineage · 2023–2025
1 coachPlayed every college season under Ryan Day.
Next stop · NFL
Houston Texans2026 NFL rookie season
Houston Texans2026 NFL rookie season
