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Kennedy "Mayhem" McDowell commits to Colorado State over a multitude of Power 5 offers

June 20, 2022

FORT COLLINS — Kennedy McDowell made Sunday a fun day for the Colorado State faithful.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound edge rusher out of Memorial High School in Frisco, Texas, announced via Twitter that he intends to play for Jay Norvell and the CSU Rams at the collegiate level.

According to 247Sports, McDowell presently holds offers from at least 18 FBS programs, including but not limited to Arizona State, Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State and Washington State. A couple of Mountain West schools, Air Force and San Diego State, have each offered too. After initially checking out the campus back in April, though, and then taking his official visit over the weekend, McDowell was sold enough on the Green & Gold to make his verbal commitment public.

In honor of Father’s Day and Juneteenth, I’m blessed to announce my commitment to Colorado State University! Thanks to my coaches, teammates and most importantly, my family for helping me thru this process. #RAMGRIT @CSUFootball @roberson_derick @CoachJayNorvell @coach_buddha pic.twitter.com/wvtMqHf1iL

— Kennedy ”Mayhem” McDowell (@MayhemMcDowell) June 19, 2022

Although the video available is pretty limited, watching McDowell’s hudl film, what stands out the most is the ground that he is able to cover. He has the range to go sideline to sideline — which is something you don’t see all the time with guys that play with their hand on the ground. That said, it makes sense, considering McDowell also stars in track & field.

While McDowell will need to put on some weight in the coming years, it’s also impressive the way that he is able to generate pressure by overwhelming offensive lineman with his strength, particularly given his slimmer frame. You don’t typically see 200-pound defensive ends put a guy on skates by using a bull rush, but McDowell can seemingly do it with ease. As he gets bigger and more experienced, he really has the potential to be an absolute disrupter against the run and pass, especially with the way that he moves.

As a junior last fall McDowell was sidelined by injury for the majority of the season, however, he did record a couple of sacks early on in the year. It will be interesting to see if “Mayhem” is able to return to his peak form in the upcoming 2022-23 season. Based on the recruiting interest he is receiving from some of the nation’s premiere college football programs, though, it’s clear that his projections are high.

Along with CSU, McDowell has visited CU and Kansas in recent months. He has also posted about trips to Nebraska, Notre Dame and Oklahoma in the past.

With McDowell’s commitment, CSU is now up to five verbals for the 2023 cycle. Keep up with DNVR Rams for everything that you need to know this offseason.