Usage / Role
63%
Regular offensive contributor
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2017-2019Hawai'i
Cole McDonald
QB • 6'4" • 220 lbs • La Mirada, CA, USA
Balanced quarterback profileVolume operator
Cole McDonald is a balanced quarterback profile with 27.7 usage in the latest tracked season.
Impact Production
0
Developing production for a quarterback
lowelite
Reliability
15
Sporadic game-to-game production
lowhigh
Star Power
16
Limited ceiling signals so far
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2018 Postseason · Hawai'i
1718181919
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 3
- Program Path
- Hawai'i
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Colorado State
Player Story
Cole McDonald built his college career from 2017 through 2019 as a quarterback from La Mirada, CA wearing No. 13, spending time with Hawai'i. The clearest part of Cole McDonald's career was his passing role: 8,035...
Read the story2★
- Committed To
- Hawai'i
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2016
NFL Draft
- Draft Year
- 2020
- Selection
- Round 7 · Pick 10
- Overall
- No. 224
- NFL Team
- Tennessee Titans
Cole McDonald, QB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2018 Postseason · Hawai'i. Cole McDonald is a balanced quarterback profile with 27.7 usage in the latest tracked season.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Total offense
- 8,896
- Passing yards
- 8,035
- Rushing yards
- 861
- Touchdowns
- 82
Quick Answers
Cole McDonald quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Hawai'i · QB
- Career Total Offense
- 8,896
- Tracked sample
- 3 unique seasons · 5 entries · 33 games
- Best season
- 2018 Postseason · Hawai'i
- Top game
- Colorado State
- Recruit profile
- 2-star · Sonora · Hawai'i
- High school pipeline
- Sonora · 2 FBS recruits · 1 drafted player
- NFL Draft
- 2020 · Round 7 · Pick 10 · Tennessee Titans
- Latest roster
- No. 13 · Junior
- 2019 Total offense rank
- 4,515 total offense · QB 4th (top 2%) · Mountain West 1st (top 1%) · National 4th (top 1%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Total Offense | Pass Yds | Rush Yds | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Regular Season | Hawai'i | 6 | 160 | 22 | 138 | 2 | 26.7 |
| 2018 Postseason | Hawai'i | 13 | 68 | 85 | -17 | 1 | 79.5 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Hawai'i | 13 | 4,153 | 3,790 | 363 | 39 | 79.5 |
| 2019 Postseason | Hawai'i | 14 | 483 | 493 | -10 | 5 | 75.7 |
| 2019 Regular Season | Hawai'i | 14 | 4,032 | 3,645 | 387 | 35 | 75.7 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Cole McDonald
Cole McDonald played QB for Hawai'i. Across 3 tracked seasons, Cole McDonald recorded 8,035 passing yards, 861 rushing yards, and 82 touchdowns. His top tracked season came in 2018 with Hawai'i.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2018 Postseason
Hawai'i paired 4,221 primary output with 60.4 efficiency.
Supporting note
2018 Postseason role shape
pass-led usage with 60.4 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2019 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Colorado State
Win with balanced pass-rush production and strong creator value. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2018 Postseason · Hawai'i
Games
13
Primary Metric / G
324.7
Efficiency
60.4
Usage
36.1
Consistency
83.8
Best Game by takeover score
Colorado State
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
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Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. Louisiana Tech: 68. Navy: 414. Colorado State: 514. Rice: 355. Army: 340. Duquesne: 329. San José State: 368. BYU: 270. Nevada: 280. Fresno State: 287. Utah State: 348. UNLV: 199. San Diego State: 449
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Louisiana Tech: 31 by 36.4. Navy: 47 by 65. Colorado State: 50 by 84.6. Rice: 40 by 74.7. Army: 38 by 69.4. Duquesne: 52 by 63.4. San José State: 70 by 55.8. BYU: 51 by 54.7. Nevada: 48 by 57.2. Fresno State: 40 by 66.3. Utah State: 54 by 50.6. UNLV: 45 by 46.2. San Diego State: 52 by 61.2
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins375.4 · Games = 7 · +109.9 vs Losses
Losses265.5 · Games = 6 · -109.9 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
13 games
Featured metric
Total Offense
Top game by takeover score
Colorado State
Best efficiency game
84.6 vs Colorado State
| Result | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 12/23 | @ Louisiana Tech | L 14-31 | 10 | 20 | 85 | 50.0 | 1 | 2 | 36.4 | 11 | -17 | -1.50 | 0 | 5 |
| Sun 11/25 | @ San Diego State300-yard game · 3+ TD | W 31-30 | 29 | 46 | 452 | 63.0 | 3 | 0 | 61.2 | 6 | -3 | -0.50 | 1 | 7 |
| Sun 11/18 | vs UNLV | W 35-28 | 14 | 30 | 175 | 46.7 | 0 | 2 | 46.2 | 15 | 24 | 1.60 | 1 | 27 |
| Sun 11/4 | vs Utah State300-yard game | L 17-56 | 18 | 45 | 331 | 40.0 | 2 | 2 | 50.6 | 9 | 17 | 1.90 | 0 | 8 |
| Sun 10/28 | @ Fresno StateDual-threat | L 20-50 | 17 | 28 | 225 | 60.7 | 1 | 1 | 66.3 | 12 | 62 | 5.20 | 0 | 18 |
| Sun 10/21 | vs Nevada3+ TD | L 22-40 | 19 | 37 | 259 | 51.4 | 3 | 0 | 57.2 | 11 | 21 | 1.90 | 0 | 23 |
| Sun 10/14 | @ BYU | L 23-49 | 22 | 38 | 248 | 57.9 | 2 | 1 | 54.7 | 13 | 22 | 1.70 | 0 | 7 |
| Sat 9/29 | @ San José State300-yard game · 3+ TD | W 44-41 | 34 | 57 | 341 | 59.6 | 4 | 1 | 55.8 | 13 | 27 | 2.10 | 0 | 17 |
| Sun 9/23 | vs Duquesne3+ TD · Dual-threat | W 42-21 | 24 | 40 | 273 | 60.0 | 5 | 1 | 63.4 | 12 | 56 | 4.70 | 0 | 13 |
| Sat 9/15 | @ Army300-yard game | L 21-28 | 20 | 32 | 321 | 62.5 | 2 | 0 | 69.4 | 6 | 19 | 3.20 | 0 | 28 |
| Sun 9/9 | vs Rice300-yard game · 3+ TD | W 43-29 | 22 | 33 | 319 | 66.7 | 4 | 0 | 74.7 | 7 | 36 | 5.10 | 0 | 15 |
| Sun 9/2 | vs Navy300-yard game · 3+ TD | W 59-41 | 30 | 41 | 428 | 73.2 | 6 | 0 | 65 | 6 | -14 | -2.30 | 0 | 8 |
| Sat 8/25 | @ Colorado State300-yard game · 3+ TD | W 43-34 | 26 | 37 | 418 | 70.3 | 3 | 0 | 84.6 | 13 | 96 | 7.40 | 2 | 21 |
Player Story
Cole McDonald story
Cole McDonald built his college career from 2017 through 2019 as a quarterback from La Mirada, CA wearing No. 13, spending time with Hawai'i. The clearest part of Cole McDonald's career was his passing role: 8,035 passing yards, 70 touchdown passes, 1,004 attempts, and 861 rushing yards across 33 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2019 with Hawai'i. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
Quarterback careers are usually judged first by volume, efficiency, and scoring chances. His career also includes 861 rushing yards, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. With 33 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Hawai'i.
The arc is straightforward: Cole McDonald moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Hawai'i
2017-2019
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
20172018201820192019
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Regular Season | Hawai'i | 160 | 59.8 | 9.6 | — |
| 2018 Postseason | Hawai'i | 4,221 | 60.4 | 36.1 | 4,061 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Hawai'i | 4,221 | 60.4 | 36.1 | 0 |
| 2019 Postseason | Hawai'i | 4,515 | 64.1 | 27.7 | 294 |
| 2019 Regular Season | Hawai'i | 4,515 | 64.1 | 27.7 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
@ Colorado State
Week 1 · W 43-34 · Conference game
Win with balanced pass-rush production and strong creator value.
514
Total Offense
88.3 takeover
514 total offense with 84.6 efficiency.
#2
vs Air Force
Week 8 · L 26-56 · Conference game
445
Total Offense
86 takeover
Loss with 445 yards of offense and 65.9 efficiency.
445 total offense with 65.9 efficiency.
#3
@ BYU
Week 1 · W 38-34 · Postseason
483
Total Offense
85.5 takeover
Win with 483 yards of offense and 62.5 efficiency.
483 total offense with 62.5 efficiency.
#4
vs Oregon State
Week 2 · W 31-28
440
Total Offense
83.1 takeover
Win with 440 yards of offense and 58.3 efficiency.
440 total offense with 58.3 efficiency.
#5
@ Army
Week 3 · L 21-28
340
Total Offense
78.5 takeover
Loss with 340 yards of offense and 69.4 efficiency.
340 total offense with 69.4 efficiency.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2018 Postseason · Hawai'i
4,221 primary output · 60.4 efficiency · 36.1 usage
79.5
#2
2018 Regular Season · Hawai'i
79.5
4,221 primary · 60.4 efficiency · 36.1 usage
#3
2019 Postseason · Hawai'i
75.7
4,515 primary · 64.1 efficiency · 27.7 usage
Milestones
18
250+ passing yards
16
300+ total offense
16
3+ TD games
19
Above avg efficiency
Next best actions
Keep exploring Cole McDonald
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