D.K. McDonald on edge rushers in coverage, Arizona’s offense

Defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald spoke with the media before Kansas goes on the road to play Arizona on Saturday. McDonald talked about dropping defensive ends in pass coverage and what he sees from Noah Fifita and the Wildcats’ offense.

Using defensive ends in pass coverage has been beneficial to McDonald

One developing quirk of McDonald’s defense is dropping defensive ends into coverage. Kansas has often shown a five-man front before dropping an edge, usually Dean Miller or Leroy Harris III, into coverage. McDonald thinks Kansas has the personnel to make it work.

“I think having, you know, Dean, you know, with his skill set that he has, being a lighter body, he’s able to do it,” McDonald said. “You can see the number of tackles that he can make in space. And plus having a bigger body out there, we feel that’s beneficial. When a wide receiver tries to block Dean or try to, you know, block Leroy, we feel like we got the advantage with so many teams that play in space. So it’s just something we can do.”

McDonald said playing edge rushers in coverage can help add a layer to the defense. He said the Jayhawks’ pass rush has still been a successful unit, ranking seventh in the Big 12 with 19 sacks.

“I think we’re doing a good job. We got what, 19, 20 sacks,” McDonald said. “I think we had a lot of different pressures there. So they’re doing a good job of doing a lot of different things. And I mean, I think we’re getting after people, so we’ll just continue to do that and get our guys better and continue to get them to the quarterback.”

Noah Fifita makes NFL-caliber throws

Both McDonald and Lance Leipold have complimented Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita throughout this week. Fifita has completed 65% of passes this season for 2042 yards, throwing 21 touchdowns to just four interceptions. McDonald called Fifita a special talent.

“He’s a special quarterback. One of the best in the league,” McDonald said. “What they do, man, they got one of the best offenses in the league and he’s the main reason why, really. So it’s going to be a big challenge for us. He’s able to throw with great accuracy, great timing, and then he’s able to use his legs when he wants to.”

McDonald said what makes Fifita so dangerous is his ability to complete passes even when it looks like a receiver may not be open.

“He makes some NFL throws where guys aren’t really open,” McDonald said. “He throws them open. And you don’t see that a lot in college or guys who are, before [receivers] stop their route, you know, he’s already delivered the ball and some of those things are really special and interesting to watch.”

Arizona’s offense strong all-around

McDonald said the Wildcats have a strong offense outside of Fifita. He mentioned Arizona’s offensive line as a reason why Fifita has been so successful.

“Those two tackles do a great job of moving their feet and keeping guys away from the quarterback,” McDonald said. “But they do a really good job with those big guards keeping people out of the way of the quarterback because he’s a shorter guy. So they really make sure people don’t collapse the pocket. Then the tackles do a good job building around him, which allows him to be a great pocket quarterback.”

Arizona comes into Saturday’s game averaging 34 points a game and over 400 yards per game. McDonald said a “tremendous collection of wide receivers” and an “unsung hero” at running back has helped the Wildcats’ offense be explosive.

“They got a tremendous collection of wide receivers,” McDonald said. “If you watch last week’s game against Colorado, there were some throws that [Fifita] made, they caught and they ended up turning them into explosive plays. And so they’re really good with that. The one guy who’s kind of unsung on their offense and not a lot of people talk about is the running back. I think he’s really good, really explosive. He’s not a big guy, but man, he can run and he can make some explosive plays.”