Arizona Cardinals sign former University of Hawaii passer
By Jim Koch
On the Thursday before Super Bowl LV, the Arizona Cardinals added an interesting player to their roster. With just two quarterbacks under contract for the 2021 campaign, general manager Steve Keim decided to add another arm to the mix. A signal-caller who may have been signed to compete with Chris Streveler for the backup job behind starter Kyler Murray.
Cole McDonald, a young passer who actually worked out for the Cards this past December, has been inked to a one-year futures deal with the team. The 6’3, 215 pounder was a seventh-round draft choice of the Tennessee Titans in 2020, but was cut during training camp. Will McDonald rebound from that setback and maintain employment with Arizona for the upcoming season?
McDonald is a strong-armed gunslinger who had two outstanding campaigns with the University of Hawaii. As a sophomore in 2018, McDonald completed 58.9% of his passes for 3,875 yards and 36 touchdowns, with 10 interceptions. The California native also rumbled for 359 yards and four scores on the ground for the Rainbow Warriors.
A year later, as a junior, McDonald completed an excellent 76.3% of his throws for 4,135 yards and 33 touchdowns. He did toss 14 picks in 511 pass attempts, however. Turnovers were certainly an issue for McDonald, who was also charged with 12 fumbles during his college career.
At the NFL Scouting Combine in February of ’20, McDonald recorded the fastest 40-yard dash time among the quarterbacks (4.58 seconds). His 36-inch vertical jump was also the best of all of the signal-callers.
It appears that the Cardinals may be willing to walk away from veteran Brett Hundley. The 27-year old spent two years in the desert, but failed to dress for any game last fall. Hundley will likely be permitted to test the free agent market, and could very well be playing elsewhere when September rolls around.
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Streveler saw action for Arizona during the squad’s week 17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The former Canadian Football League star put up decent numbers (11 for 16 for 105 yards, with a touchdown and an interception), but was far from impressive in doing so. McDonald could be handed a real chance to unseat Streveler as the second-string choice behind Murray.