Defensive line, Ohio State, 2023–25
Kayden McDonald
- Number
- No. 98
- Height
- 6′3″
- Weight
- 326 lb
- Class (2025)
- Junior
- Hometown
- Suwanee, GA
- Born
- Mar 13, 2004
Wikipedia readers: about 4,018 a month over the past year
Kayden McDonald played defensive line at Ohio State (2023–25). He was a consensus All‑American in 2025. The Houston Texans took McDonald in round 2, No. 36 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Career highs
8tackles, career highthree times; last vs. Miami, 20252sacks, career highat Washington, 2025Honors
Team titles: National champions, 2024
Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.
Defense
| Season | Team | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD | Hur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Ohio State | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024 | Ohio State | 19 | 7 | 1.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | Ohio State | 65 | 31 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Career | 85 | 38 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Ohio State | 98 | DL | Fr. | ||
| 2024 | Ohio State | 98 | DL | So. | ||
| 2025 | Ohio State | 98 | DL | Jr. | 6′3″ | 326 |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Game by game
2025 Ohio State 14 games, 65 tackles, 3 sacks
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30 | vs. Texas | W 14–7 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 6 | vs. Grambling | W 70–0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 13 | vs. Ohio | W 37–9 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 27 | at Washington | W 24–6 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Oct 4 | vs. Minnesota | W 42–3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 11 | at Illinois | W 34–16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 18 | at Wisconsin | W 34–0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 1 | vs. Penn State | W 38–14 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 8 | at Purdue | W 34–10 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 15 | vs. UCLA | W 48–10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 22 | vs. Rutgers | W 42–9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 29 | at Michigan | W 27–9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 6 | vs. Indiana | L 10–13 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 31 ✦ | vs. Miami | L 14–24 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2024 Ohio State 11 games, 19 tackles
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31 | vs. Akron | W 52–6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 7 | vs. Western Michigan | W 56–0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 21 | vs. Marshall | W 49–14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 28 | at Michigan State | W 38–7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 5 | vs. Iowa | W 35–7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 2 | atPenn State | W 20–13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 9 | vs.Purdue | W 45–0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 23 | vs.Indiana | W 38–15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 30 | vs.Michigan | L 10–13 | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Jan 10 ✦ | vs.Texas | W 28–14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jan 20 ✦ | vs. Notre Dame | W 34–23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 Ohio State 1 game, 1 tackle
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 14 | atPurdue | W 41–7 | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2026 | Combine or pro day 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 6′2⅛″ | |
| Weight | 326 lb | |
| Arm length | 32¼″ | |
| Hand size | 9¾″ | |
| Wingspan | 78⅛″ | |
| Bench press | 27 repsW |
Combine or pro day: the source doesn’t say which. Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the NFL
1 season, 1 game with a stat; latest team: Houston Texans.
| Season | Team | G | Tkl | Sacks | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | Houston Texans | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.
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