Will McDonald had an underwhelming rookie season with the New York Jets in 2023.

The former Iowa State pass rusher was selected with the No. 15 overall pick in the first round. Despite the high draft pedigree, McDonald wasn’t able to have the year he was hoping for.

In 15 games he didn’t make a single start and finished with just 184 defensive snaps. That was the fewest amount by any first-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft.

McDonald is hoping to have a sophomore surge and that starts in the weight room. He told Jets team reporter Ethan Greenberg that he plans on bulking up.

“After a stop at home in Wisconsin, McDonald will train in Houston, TX, California with Johnson and in Florham Park. His primary goal is to add weight to his 237-pound frame and report back between 250 and 255 pounds,” Greenberg explained.

“[Adding the weight] it’ll definitely help with power, just make sure I’m getting a better knockback. I was already doing it well now, but just adding a lot of muscle mass, I feel like it’s going to be a lot better,” McDonald said via Greenberg. “This offseason I’m about to go crazy. When I come back, I’m going to be a whole different person.”

McDonald Will Follow the Jermaine Johnson Playbook in 2024
At the NFL combine, Jets linebacker Jermaine Johnson stood on the scales at 254 pounds. This season he was listed at 262 pounds on the official team website.

He didn’t have to undergo the same physical transformation that McDonald is attempting to this offseason, but Will is hoping to mirror the former first-rounder in other ways.

“I’m supposed to be training with him [Johnson] during this offseason, so I’m certainly going to be learning a lot more from him,” McDonald said to Greenberg. “Take care of my body, make sure that I’m not wasting time, not going out and partying. He said [to me], ‘Get your mindset right, have your heart in it, and just do your thing. Come back next year, take advantage of your opportunities and get right.’”

Johnson was also a highly thought-of first-round defensive prospect. Like McDonald, he didn’t get many reps on the field [312 defensive snaps].

However, in his sophomore season, he completely flipped the script. Johnson surged up to 748 defensive snaps and started in all 17 games in 2023.

The more snaps he played, the more production he had on the field. Johnson had 7.5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, 11 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and a pick-six.

Ex-Jets First Rounder Earning a Ton of High Praise
McDonald had three sacks, a forced fumble, five quarterback hits, and four tackles for loss during his rookie campaign.

Although some of his teammates believe he will reach crazy heights next year.

“We all say in the D-Line room that he has the most insane athletic ability that we have ever seen. [McDonald] is a 10 sack guy and we’re excited for him to put that on tape,” Solomon Thomas explained to Jets reporter Eric Allen.

Head coach Robert Saleh took that a step further predicting that McDonald is going to be a “superstar” in the NFL when he spoke to the media at the end of the season.

McDonald will enter the second year of his $16 million rookie contract in 2024.