{"id":864071,"date":"2026-04-11T16:04:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T16:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/864071\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T16:04:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T16:04:18","slug":"kayden-mcdonald-is-a-tackling-machine-joebucsfan-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/864071\/","title":{"rendered":"Kayden McDonald Is A Tackling Machine – JoeBucsFan.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ohio State DT Kayden McDonald<\/p>\n

In two weeks, a bleary-eyed Joe will stagger into the media workroom at One Buc Palace before Day 3 of the draft and chug copious amounts of caffeine to stay awake in order to finish the draft.<\/p>\n

Joe loves the draft. And yes, that includes all of it, every last player taken.<\/p>\n

Unlike Chucky<\/a>, Joe doesn\u2019t tap out on the final day of the draft.\u00a0(If Joe is able to get to bed by 2 a.m. after Day 2 of the draft, that will be a success.)<\/p>\n

By the hour, Joe is more and more interested (excited?) that the Bucs may draft a defensive lineman in the first round.<\/p>\n

While you can argue there isn\u2019t a defensive lineman worthy of a No. 15 pick, this may be why Bucs AC\/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht has put out the Bat Signal for his NFL fraternity of general managers that he\u2019s looking to trade down.<\/p>\n

Picking a defensive lineman in the 20s makes more sense. And hey, if Licht and the Bucs can pick up an established player or an extra draft pick, all the better.<\/p>\n

There really isn\u2019t one absolute stud to choose. The only defensive tackle guy projected as a first-round pick is Ohio State\u2019s Kayden McDonald.<\/p>\n

In appearing on the \u201cRoss Tucker Football Podcast<\/a>,\u201d one of the best series of football-centric podcasts you will find, NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell noted McDonald isn\u2019t much for a pass rush, but boy, is he a beast against the run.<\/p>\n

\u201cMcDonald is a pure, great run defender,\u201d Cosell said. \u201cWhat is unique about him is, watching his tape, not only did he win with physicality, but he made tackles.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou rarely see a defensive tackle make as many tackles in the run game as Kayden McDonald.\u201d<\/p>\n

And we all know how much Bucs coach Todd Bowles covets stopping the run.<\/p>\n

What does Joe whine about with the Bucs defense the past couple of years? Tackling. Well, this McDonald tackles. And he\u2019s a total ass-kicker in the trenches.<\/p>\n

Do you think Houston regrets not bulking up on the defensive line? Or Philadelphia? Why can\u2019t the Bucs do that? They could if they draft McDonald.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s not demanding or calling for Licht to draft McDonald. But the thought of adding McDonald with Vita Vea and ornery A\u2019Shawn Robinson brings a smile to Joe\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

And if you project this a year out, if Calijah Kancey is hurt (again), how do we know the Bucs will bring him back? Vea, 31, is in a contract year. How do we know he returns? Drafting McDonald covers the Bucs if either Kancey or Vea, or both, are not on the roster.<\/p>\n

Ira Kaufman Talks Gerald McCoy Dart, Draft Board And First-Pick Debate, Dianna Russini & Much More; Special Fan Guest Josh Martin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ohio State DT Kayden McDonald In two weeks, a bleary-eyed Joe will stagger into the media workroom at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":864072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,2599,2598,7,6,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-864071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-bucs-message-boards","10":"tag-bucs-news","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-tampa-bay","14":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","15":"tag-tampabay","16":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116386926547336567","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}