The McDonald twins — Jorden at defensive end and Jayden at inside linebacker — have entered the transfer portal, they announced on Thursday.
Both players are rising redshirt juniors who were coming off reported injuries in 2024 and found themselves outside the two-deep at their respective positions at the conclusion of spring practice.
The former Salem High School standouts spent four season in Blacksburg, with most of their playing time coming in 2023. At defensive end, Jorden played 101 snaps that year, making three tackles for loss and recording 1.5 sacks. In 2024, he played 20 defensive snaps against Old Dominion and Rutgers, but didn’t appear on defense again until the bowl game against Minnesota. He played special teams in the first four games of the season but did not play again until Week 9.
Jayden played 316 defensive snaps in 2023, and his PFF grade of 68.9 led all Virginia Tech linebackers that season. However, he played just four defensive snaps in the first two games this past season and did not make an appearance on defense or special teams after the Marshall game in Week 2.
The Hokies now have nine scholarship defensive ends and 10 scholarship linebackers.