Usage / Role
67%
Regular defensive contributor
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2020-2024UConn
Jayden McDonald
LB • 6'0" • 235 lbs • Suwanee, GA, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Jayden McDonald shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 56.1 disruption score.
Impact Production
84
High-end production for a linebacker
lowelite
Reliability
66
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
83
High-upside career profile
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2024 Postseason · UConn
202122232424
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 2
- Unique Seasons
- 5
- Program Path
- Troy • UConn
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Temple
Player Story
Jayden McDonald built his college career from 2020 through 2024 as a linebacker from Suwanee, GA wearing No. 10, spending time with Troy and UConn. The clearest part of Jayden McDonald's career was his defensive...
Read the story3★
- Committed To
- Iowa
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2018
Jayden McDonald, LB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2024 Postseason · UConn. Jayden McDonald shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 56.1 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 315
- TFL
- 33
- Sacks
- 7
- QB hurries
- 15
- Passes defended
- 5
Quick Answers
Jayden McDonald quick answers
- Latest team and position
- UConn · LB
- Career Tackles
- 315
- Tracked sample
- 5 unique seasons · 6 entries · 48 games
- Best season
- 2024 Postseason · UConn
- Top game
- Temple
- Recruit profile
- 3-star · North Gwinnett · Iowa
- High school pipeline
- North Gwinnett · 45 FBS recruits · 7 drafted players
- Latest roster
- No. 10 · Senior
- 2024 Tackles rank
- 125 tackles · LB 7th (top 1%) · FBS Independents 1st (top 1%) · National 8th (top 1%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Regular Season | Troy | 11 | 67 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 30.4 |
| 2021 Regular Season | Troy | 8 | 35 | 7 | 2 | 1 | - | 0 | 46.1 |
| 2022 Regular Season | Troy | 3 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 2 | - | 0 | 50 |
| 2023 Regular Season | Troy | 13 | 75 | 10 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 53 |
| 2024 Postseason | UConn | 13 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | 0 | 80.2 |
| 2024 Regular Season | UConn | 13 | 119 | 9 | 3.5 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 80.2 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Jayden McDonald
Jayden McDonald played LB for Troy and UConn. Across 5 tracked seasons, Jayden McDonald recorded 315 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2024 with UConn.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2024 Postseason
UConn paired 25.5 primary output with 56.1 efficiency.
Supporting note
2023 Regular Season role shape
impact-led usage with 34.9 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2024 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Multi-stop career journey
Production spans 2 team stops, with role shifts visible across Troy, UConn.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Army
Win with 3.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet. 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.
2023 Regular Season · Troy
Games
13
Havoc Plays / G
1.1
Efficiency
34.9
Usage
8.3
Consistency
51
Best Game by takeover score
Army
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
Hover over a point
Hover or select a game to keep its context visible here without the page shifting around.
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. Stephen F. Austin: 0. Kansas State: 3. James Madison: 2. Western Kentucky: 0. Georgia State: 1. Arkansas State: 1. Army: 3.5. Texas State: 0. South Alabama: 0. UL Monroe: 0.5. Louisiana: 1. Southern Miss: 1.5. App State: 1
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. Stephen F. Austin: 5 by 20.8. Kansas State: 5 by 50.8. James Madison: 8 by 53.3. Western Kentucky: 1 by 4.2. Georgia State: 9 by 47.5. Arkansas State: 4 by 26.7. Army: 13 by 85. Texas State: 7 by 29.2. South Alabama: 1 by 4.2. UL Monroe: 5 by 25.8. Louisiana: 3 by 22.5. Southern Miss: 9 by 52.5. App State: 5 by 30.8
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins0.9 · Games = 11 · -1.6 vs Losses
Losses2.5 · Games = 2 · +1.6 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
13 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
Army
Best efficiency game
85 vs Army
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 12/2 | vs App State | W 49-23 | 5 | 2 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/25 | @ Southern Miss | W 35-17 | 9 | 1 | — | 1 | 0.50 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/18 | vs Louisiana | W 31-24 | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/11 | @ UL Monroe | W 45-14 | 5 | 3 | — | 0.50 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Thu 11/2 | vs South Alabama | W 28-10 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/28 | @ Texas State | W 31-13 | 7 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/14 | @ Army10+ tackles · Splash game | W 19-0 | 13 | 7 | — | 2.50 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/7 | vs Arkansas State | W 37-3 | 4 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/30 | @ Georgia State | W 28-7 | 9 | 8 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/23 | vs Western Kentucky | W 27-24 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/16 | vs James MadisonSplash game | L 14-16 | 8 | 6 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/9 | @ Kansas StateSplash game | L 13-42 | 5 | 4 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 9/2 | vs Stephen F. Austin | W 48-30 | 5 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
Player Story
Jayden McDonald story
Jayden McDonald built his college career from 2020 through 2024 as a linebacker from Suwanee, GA wearing No. 10, spending time with Troy and UConn. The clearest part of Jayden McDonald's career was his defensive production: 315 tackles, 33 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, and 2 interceptions across 48 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2024 with UConn. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
Defensive careers can be hard to read from one number, but Jayden McDonald's production has multiple signals. With 48 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Troy and UConn.
The arc is straightforward: Jayden 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
Troy
2020-2023
Opening stop
- 2
UConn
2024
Final stop
Season Value Progression
202020212022202320242024
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Regular Season | Troy | 7 | 30.2 | 6.2 | — |
| 2021 Regular Season | Troy | 11 | 32 | 7.9 | 4 |
| 2022 Regular Season | Troy | 4 | 31.4 | 11.4 | -7 |
| 2023 Regular Season | Troy | 14.5 | 34.9 | 8.3 | 10.5 |
| 2024 Postseason | UConn | 25.5 | 56.1 | 14.9 | 11 |
| 2024 Regular Season | UConn | 25.5 | 56.1 | 14.9 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
vs Temple
Week 6 · W 29-20
Win with 4.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
4.5
Havoc Plays
98.3 takeover
4.5 disruption/tackle impact with 98.3 takeover score.
#2
@ Army
Week 7 · W 19-0
3.5
Havoc Plays
95 takeover
Win with 3.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3.5 disruption/tackle impact with 95 takeover score.
#3
vs Georgia State
Week 8 · L 34-36 · Conference game
3
Havoc Plays
93.3 takeover
Loss with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3 disruption/tackle impact with 93.3 takeover score.
#4
vs Wake Forest
Week 8 · L 20-23
4
Havoc Plays
93 takeover
Loss with 4 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
4 disruption/tackle impact with 93 takeover score.
#5
@ South Carolina
Week 5 · L 14-23
3
Havoc Plays
82.2 takeover
Loss with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3 disruption/tackle impact with 82.2 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2024 Postseason · UConn
25.5 primary output · 56.1 efficiency · 14.9 usage
80.2
#2
2024 Regular Season · UConn
80.2
25.5 primary · 56.1 efficiency · 14.9 usage
#3
2023 Regular Season · Troy
53
14.5 primary · 34.9 efficiency · 8.3 usage
Milestones
16
Impact games
16
Splash games
8
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Jayden McDonald
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