{"id":895291,"date":"2026-05-19T07:36:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T07:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/895291\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T07:36:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T07:36:18","slug":"texans-rookie-kayden-mcdonald-i-bring-power-a-powerful-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/895291\/","title":{"rendered":"Texans rookie Kayden McDonald: \u2018I bring power, a powerful guy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON \u2013 Inside the new showroom of U.S. Coins and Jewelry<\/a>, Texans rookie Kayden McDonald examined a bar of gold and perused a collection of Rolex watches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big watch guy,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cNow, I know where I need to go when I need a watch. Those are very nice watches.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the first community appearance for McDonald since the Texans drafted the Big Ten Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year in the second round.<\/p>\n

Now that he\u2019s in the NFL, McDonald is determined to make an immediate impact as he\u2019s set his ambitions on winning a Super Bowl and becoming an NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in his first season.<\/p>\n

The Texans targeted McDonald for a specific purpose: to bolster the middle of the top-ranked defense in the NFL as a big, strong anchor.<\/p>\n

They regard him as the best run-stopping defensive tackle in this draft class.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just bring power, a powerful guy to come in and help them,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cFocusing on what I can do and the things I need to attack on, that I need to work on, build of those and let everything else handle itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

One of the major reasons why McDonald is in Houston after a consensus All-American season at Ohio State, recording 65 tackles to rival first-round draft picks Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs for the first hit for the Buckeyes defense last season, is to provide an imposing presence inside. That works perfectly in tandem with All-Pro defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, an elite and expensive pass rushing tandem.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got $90 million on the outside,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cThat\u2019s all I can say.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald is off to a fast start with the Texans. Under the direction of defensive line coach and run game coordinator Rod Wright and defensive tackles coach Frank Okam, defensive coordinator Matt Burke and coach DeMeco Ryans, McDonald was as advertised during the Texans\u2019 rookie minicamp.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got my coaches, coach Rod, couch Frank, coach DeMeco, and just going to keep working every day,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cJust really focusing in on every day, working on what I need to work on, building that foundation, taking it one day at a time. I just keep working on myself and help my team win games.\u201d<\/p>\n

When McDonald was drafted by the Texans with the 36th overall pick, it was an emotional moment.<\/p>\n

McDonald\u2019s nephew, his sister, Justice\u2019s son, congratulated him and began crying with tears of joy. The raw emotion triggered McDonald, too, and the moment went viral.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy nephew, he looks up to me and he\u2019s the next one up,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cIt was a very emotional moment for me and my family. It got a lot of attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that McDonald is getting settled in Houston, he plans to be heavily involved in the community just as he was in Columbus, Ohio.<\/p>\n

That includes plans for future toy drives and backpack giveaways.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the community,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>\n

And McDonald is making a lot of new fans in Houston as he makes connections, including U.S. Coins and Jewelry at their new location at 8501 Katy Freeway in Houston. They have also hosted former Texans Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Cushing and former Minnesota Vikings star and NFL MVP Adrian Peterson since their grand reopening.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s super special,\u201d said Matthew Duncan, co-owner of U.S. Coins and Jewelry. \u201cWe\u2019re very humbled and happy that he\u2019s here. It\u2019s a great experience to see everyone come out and support him, all the Texans fans, it\u2019s really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

McDonald doesn\u2019t shy away from high expectations.<\/p>\n

After meeting formally with the Texans at the NFL scouting combine, he visited them along with the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, Washington Commanders, Chicago Bears and the Cincinnati Bengals. McDonald had a special feeling about the Texans throughout the draft process.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir. I thought it all the way through,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cTexans, they made it clear who the best defensive tackle was. It\u2019s a blessing to be here. I\u2019m ready for the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Texans needed a young, athletic defensive tackle to work in tandem with Sheldon Rankins, Tommy Togiai and Logan Hall and play inside opposite Pro Bowl defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.<\/p>\n

McDonald, a Texarkana native who grew up in Suwanee, Georgia, provides a dominant inside presence at 6-foot-2 1\/8, 326 pounds and operates with outstanding leverage and pad level. The first-team All-Big Ten Conference selection recorded three sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I like about Kayden and his tape at Ohio State is the physicality, it shows up,\u201d Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. \u201cWhen he\u2019s across the line from an offensive lineman, no matter who it was, he was knocking those guys back in the backfield. That translates to Houston Texans defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to knock guys back. He does that. He\u2019s still a very young player who has so much room to grow, so much room to ascend. It starts right here today. You see him in his individual drills. He has the power. We can win with that type of power.\u201d<\/p>\n

And confidence, too.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

McDonald has stated multiple times he\u2019s the best defensive tackle in the draft. The fact that he wasn\u2019t the first defensive lineman selected bothers him to this day. And it provides significant motivational fuel.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing blessed, staying in the moment,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cYou can\u2019t take this for granted. I\u2019m walking out here today, and it\u2019s like: \u2018This is your first day in the NFL.\u2019 It\u2019s not a game no more. It\u2019s a job, and you got to take it serious. ..<\/p>\n

\u201cJust getting out there with my teammates for rookie minicamp. We\u2019ve all got energy and enthusiasm. It\u2019s a great opportunity. At the end of the day, we want to get to L.A. and win a Super Bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n

The way that McDonald can complement the pass rushers and edge-setters that headline the Texans\u2019 front seven and keep blocks off of Pro Bowl middle linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair can make him a tone-setter for defensive line coach-run game coordinator Rod Wright.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best in the league, he wants everything his way and we\u2019ve got to follow that,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to stay on that $50 million, $40 million line. You\u2019ve got Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, those are two All-Pro guys. You just follow that plan and all things are going to work out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

McDonald was in the green room during the first round of the draft. When he got passed over, McDonald was convinced by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to return for the second night of the draft. That led up to an emotional moment where McDonald got the life-changing call from the Texans after they traded up two spots to land him. <\/p>\n

\u201cRoger, he told me I\u2019m going to be a special guy,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cHe got a lot of respect for me and I\u2019ve got a lot of respect for him. It meant a lot to me to come back on Day 2 and walk that stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald is already making fast friends with Anderson and is happy to reunite with former Ohio State players like quarterback C.J. Stroud and tight end Cade Stover. McDonald met Anderson at the Rockets\u2019 playoff game against the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy teammates, it\u2019s like a brotherhood here,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cStaff, training staff, even the dieticians, people that cook the food, it\u2019s been a warm welcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cGot to help out the defensive ends, get them to second-and-long, get them to third-and-long, let Will and Danielle Hunter and all the other guys get off the edge. It\u2019s going to work out. Three-and-out, get off the field, give it back to C.J. and go score.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Texans\u2019 defense, under the leadership of coach DeMeco Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke is formidable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be tough to score on us,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cWe already got the pieces on defense. Adding me, it\u2019s gonna be special.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Texans traded the 38th overall pick and 117th overall selection of the fourth round in exchange for the Raiders\u2019 original 36th overall pick and the 91st overall selection in the third round.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt McDonald was probably the best run defender in the draft,\u201d Texans general manager Nick Caserio said. \u201cMatt Patricia did a really good job with him, got the most out of him. He\u2019ll be a good fit for our program. We like the player. The player falls, we can\u2019t control any of that. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought him in the building, had a good visit with him. Did a lot of work on him. We felt like he was the best run-stopping defensive tackle in the draft. So, let\u2019s add him to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the top defensive players in the draft, McDonald is determined to prove the Texans made a great decision to pick him.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody that went before me, that\u2019s what fuels me,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cThere\u2019s not one player better than me in this class. I\u2019m gonna show it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Inside the new showroom of U.S. Coins and Jewelry, Texans rookie Kayden McDonald examined a bar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[7,221,253,2368,2201,6,1446,222,120423],"class_list":["post-895291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston-texans","tag-football","tag-houston","tag-houston-texans","tag-houstontexans","tag-kayden-mcdonald","tag-nfl","tag-ohio-state","tag-texans","tag-u-s-coins-and-jewelry"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116600096926572822","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895291","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=895291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}