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Kayden McDonald, the youngest of three children, was born in Texarkana, Texas. Shortly after McDonald was born, the family relocated to the Atlanta area. His father (Jason McDonald) was one of the top high school basketball players in Howard County history and also played in college; his mother (Kristi Green) also played hoops in high school.
McDonald played basketball growing up, too, but his brother (Jayden), who is five years older, was an accomplished football player. Kayden followed in his footsteps and started playing football at age 4.
While playing alongside future NFL players such as Josh Downs, Jayden McDonald was named Georgia defensive player of the year as a senior and led North Gwinnett High School to the 2017 state championship, the first in school history. Jayden went on to play linebacker at Iowa (2018), Troy (2019-23) and UConn (2024) before going undrafted in 2025. Kayden also has an older sister (Justice). He attended Parsons Elementary in Gwinnett County, Ga., where he was classmates and close friends with Caleb Downs, his future teammate at Ohio State.
Like his older brother, Kayden enrolled at North Gwinnett. When he was a freshman, he learned from the veterans on the team, including Downs, Barrett Carter, Jared Ivey and Jordan Hancock. After starting out on the JV team, he saw playing time on varsity in his first year and was a part of a squad that went 12-2 and advanced to the 2019 state playoff semifinals. McDonald became a full-time starter on the defensive line as a sophomore in 2020 and posted 56 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 12 sacks and one forced fumble. As a junior, he had his most productive season and was named 2021 defensive lineman of the year after totaling 95 tackles, 58 tackles for loss and 19 sacks in 12 games (including seven sacks in a first-round playoff game against South Forsyth). He also caught his only pass in high school as a junior, a 4-yard touchdown grab. As a senior, McDonald led North Gwinnett to a 10-win season and the 2022 regional championship. He finished with 68 tackles, 40 tackles for loss and 13 sacks, and he added running back duties (409 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns). Over four prep seasons, McDonald collected a combined 131 tackles for loss and 46 sacks.
A four-star recruit, McDonald was the 38th-ranked defensive lineman in the 2023 class and the No. 26 recruit in Georgia. Not many recruits receive their first offer from a major program like Georgia, but that is what happened for McDonald, who earned an offer from Kirby Smart early in his sophomore season (September 2020). Soon after, he added offers from Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Tennessee and Wisconsin, among others. Midway through his senior season, he announced a top five of Clemson, Florida, Michigan, Ohio State and Oklahoma, and he committed to the Buckeyes. McDonald was the 12th-ranked recruit in head coach Ryan Day’s 2023 class.
He earned Academic All-Big Ten honors and is a communications major. McDonald had a breakout season as a junior in 2025 and elected to forgo his senior year to enter the NFL Draft.
