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ILB Benardrick McKinney, Mississippi State -- A high tide raises all boats, as they say, and it's natural to assume that the recent groundswell of love for Benardrick McKinney is due to the Bulldogs' ascent to the #1 spot. The problem is, however, I can't remember being less enthused about a player supposedly projected to go somewhere in the top three rounds of the Draft. There's no question he's a very large LB even by NFL standards: 6'5" (!!!), 250 lbs, a truly imposing presence on the field. But I can't pinpoint anything he does that screams "draft me." As you'd probably expect for a guy this size, he's horrid in coverage. The Bulldogs play primarily zone coverage with their 'backers, and McKinney is utterly lost in it, either out of position or (far more frequently) in no man's land. He doesn't eat up space well at all -- he looks like he runs a 4.8 at best -- and he's not remotely a sideline-to-sideline player. Truth be told, he's built to ransack the line of scrimmage, but he's not particularly great there, either. He has good gap integrity, but he frequently gets washed out and struggles to shed blocks. His passrushing is nonexistent, as can be expected for a guy who drops into coverage close to 100% of passing downs, and his tackling is woeful as well. There might be a team somewhere that loves his measurables and think they can turn him into a quality thumper. (It is curious to me that Mississippi State puts a guy his size constantly deep into coverage.) As of now, I'd consider passing on him until deep into the draft.
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