The transfer commits kept coming for Indiana on Friday.
Troy linebacker Jayden McDonald announced he’s headed to Bloomington for his final season of college football.
It will be a return trip to the Big Ten for the 6-foot and 227-pound middle linebacker.
McDonald led the Trojans with 75 tackles this season, along with 9.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery from his Mike linebacker position. A graduate transfer, he has one season of eligibility remaining.
A native of Suwanee, Ga., McDonald started his career at Iowa. He did not see any game action there in 2018, and he sat out the 2019 season after transferring to Troy.
As a junior in 2022, McDonald started week two and three before his season ended due to injury during the App State game. He was credited with 13 tackles in his limited action.
In 2021 he was one of Troy’s leading tacklers before a season-ending ankle injury at Coastal Carolina. McDonald averaged 4.6 tackles per game in the seven contests before the injury.
McDonald finished second on the team with 67 tackles in 2020. He was rated the No. 7 linebacker in the country per Pro Football Focus in pressuring the quarterback with an 88.8 grade.
As a senior at North Gwinnett H.S. was named Georgia High School Defensive Player of the Year by Georgia High School Coaches Association.
McDonald will compete for playing time with the following middle linebackers currently slated to be on the team in 2024 — Joshua Rudolph, Jacob Mangum-Farrar, Darryl Minor Jr., Jailin Walker, Matt Hohlt, Aiden Fisher, Kaiden Turner, Isaiah Jones, and Quentin Clark.
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