Kayden McDonald: The 'Complete' Defensive Tackle about to transform your team, plus NFL Execs on Kayvon Thiboeaux's Best Fits | 4 Downs
The latest NFL Combine rumblings, and how Netflix losing its bid to purchase Warner Brothers Discovery could impact how you watch football in the future
Fernando Mendoza is going to be the No. 1 pick of the Las Vegas Raiders, but that’s about all that is set in stone after the 2026 NFL Combine.
Last week saw some of the strongest performances in the on-field testing in years, and every prospect in Indianapolis leaves town hoping that they said the right things and proved enough in their conversations with teams to not just solidify but boost their draft stock.
Draft boards are beginning to take shape, but so too are the mega-free agency deals that are going to be signed in the weeks ahead, and the framework for some big trades may have just been scratched out at Harry and Izzy’s or Shapiro’s Deli.
We’ll get into all of it, and a peek into the crystal ball on how you watch football might be changing in a colossal way in the years ahead, in this column …
First Down: The Throwback Force … Why Kayden McDonald is the NFL’s Next Great Anchor
Don’t look now, but interior defensive linemen are more in vogue than ever.
In Philadelphia, Jalen Carter is the drumbeat of Vic Fangio’s Philadelphia Eagles defense.
Milton Williams, fresh off signing a $104 million contract last offseason, appeared in his second consecutive Super Bowl as a force multiplier up front for the New England Patriots.
Byron Murphy and Leonard Williams were indispensable pieces along the front of a Seattle Seahawks defense that won the Lombardi on the back of its swarming, stifling defense.
Next month, Ohio State defensive tackle Kayden McDonald is going to hear his name called, in all likelihood, in the first 20 or so selections and is hellbent on following in those footsteps.
“The guy I want to model my game after,” McDonald told me, during an appearance on the Between The Hashmarks Podcast Interview. “Is a guy who is going to come in and help my team win a Super Bowl. That’s my main goal, and I want to let every team know that I can do that.
“A lot of teams need defensive tackles, in order to take that next step. I’m glad it’s a defensive tackle-driven league. Your team is nothing without a dominant defensive tackle, and I think it’s becoming a point across the NFL that we’re bringing back the throwback nose tackle.”
McDonald weighs in at a massive 6-foot-4 and 326 pounds, and is entering this draft off the strongest season of his collegiate career, producing a personal-best 65 total tackles with three sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery.
NFL front offices, though, are currently weighing that pass-rush upside against his immediate floor as a space-eater.
“He’s a big body guy and a two-down player,” one NFL Personnel Executive tells Between The Hashmarks. “But he’s a good player all around.”
That “two-down” label is the hurdle McDonald is hell-bent on clearing.
While some scouts see a run-stuffing specialist, his 10 quarterback pressures in 2025 suggest there is much more under the hood.
“At the end of the day, I want to win the game,” McDonald said, when I asked what drives him on a snap-by-snap basis. “But, specifically, probably just whooping the guy in front of me, winning my assignment, and being disruptive.”
A high motor player who aims to be disruptive in all facets of the game, McDonald has the traits and the attitude to be an instant impact player at the next level, after coming through a pressure cooker of a program like Ohio State where championships aren’t the goal rather the expectation.
“I pride myself on being a complete player,” McDonald explains. “On early-downs, I gotta stop the run, and on third downs, I push the pockets. If I can’t get there, I get my hands up.
“The way I can take my game to the next level is turning my pressures into sacks, and give my offense the chance to get the ball, go down the field, and score to win. That’s how I’m going to turn my game up once I get to the league.”
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Inside this column you’ll find top league executives and scouts on the best trade fits for Giants edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, the players who ‘won’ the NFL Combine, and Sports Media columnist Andrew Marchand on how Netflix losing out on acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery could impact the streaming giant expanding the amount of games it will carry in the years ahead.
Second Down: Best fits for Giants EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux
This is a great offseason to need a pass rusher, as we’ve highlighted on a few different occasions in this space, and that market could be getting a bit more crowded.
Thursday, just as the NFL Combine kicked off in Indianapolis, the New York Jets traded edge rusher Jermaine Johnson to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat.
But, Johnson might not be the only former first-round edge rusher on the move out of the greater Tri-State area.
According to an agent familiar with the pass rush market, and an additional league source, the New York Giants are looking to move on from pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Despite a crowded edge rush room that includes All-Pro Brian Burns and No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Abdul Carter, Thibodeaux still managed 2.5 sacks and 32 hurries in 10 games before a shoulder injury that cost him time throughout the season finally landed the former Oregon standout on injured reserve last season.
“He’s a freak athlete,” an AFC Scout tells Between The Hashmarks, of Thibodeaux. “Needs to still get a little stronger, but otherwise has all of the physical tools you look for.”
