McKinney article

[dogshiek]

Here's a link to a link from a Gainsville newspaper about McKinney. Is he the best in the SEC?

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20140629/articles/140629942

[dickiedawg]

We have a lot if players that "could be household names" at the end of the year.
I feel like this offense has the chance to put up numbers like we've never seen at MSU, and the defense should be even better.

To the original question, I don't know if he's the best lb in the SEC. But he's in the discussion and I'll be shocked if he's not one of the top LBs off the board next season.

[dogshiek]

In one of the preseason practices last year, I saw him cover Tubby 30 yards down the field. He is an incredible athlete. He's definitely going to be an NFL first rounder.

[Harrydawg]

KJ Wright clone - is he bigger and faster (than KJ). This guy is our freak, no doubt.

[hailmari]

KJ Wright clone - is he bigger and faster (than KJ). This guy is our freak, no doubt.

Faster, yeah. Bigger, not quiet. KJ is thicker.

[Schultzy]

3-1/2 sacks last year, and probably rushed the passer less than ten times.

[msstate7]

3-1/2 sacks last year, and probably rushed the passer less than ten times.

That's a good %. Need to get him more opportunities

[MetEdDawg]

Here's what I don't get about McKinney and his situation. Didn't pretty much everyone associated with MSU say he was gonna be a stud BEFORE he even stepped on campus? How did everyone else miss out on a guy that is possibly the best LB in the SEC? I mean guys were writing articles about him in high school and I think he was in possibly the first MSU spring article his true freshman year saying how dominant he was and how much promise he had.

It absolutely amazes me how that kind of thing can happen. I know kids are still growing and that kind of thing, but it still doesn't take away the amazement that we had a hand in turning a 2 star "dud" into a 1st round draft pick. In 4 years, McKinney could go from unranked 2 star that no one but us knew about to possibly the best LB in the SEC and a 1st round draft pick. That's absolutely astonishing. Credit to our staff for finding him, but big time credit to McKinney for putting in the time and work to be the best he could be.

[Dawg61]

BM is the definition of the Diamond in the Rough

[RougeDawg]

Here's what I don't get about McKinney and his situation. Didn't pretty much everyone associated with MSU say he was gonna be a stud BEFORE he even stepped on campus? How did everyone else miss out on a guy that is possibly the best LB in the SEC? I mean guys were writing articles about him in high school and I think he was in possibly the first MSU spring article his true freshman year saying how dominant he was and how much promise he had.

It absolutely amazes me how that kind of thing can happen. I know kids are still growing and that kind of thing, but it still doesn't take away the amazement that we had a hand in turning a 2 star "dud" into a 1st round draft pick. In 4 years, McKinney could go from unranked 2 star that no one but us knew about to possibly the best LB in the SEC and a 1st round draft pick. That's absolutely astonishing. Credit to our staff for finding him, but big time credit to McKinney for putting in the time and work to be the best he could be.

We continuously see how well our coaches recruit and develop undervalued high school talent. Jonathan Banks is one that comes to mind. Chris Jones was almost an unknown kid until recruiting services caught on to him late in the game. We had been on him long before any of that. If our coaches were recruiting on a level field and not having to compete with the big purse illegal recruiting programs around the SEC we would be competing for Atlanta every year. Since we cannot use the OM, Auburn recruiting tactic$, we have to rely on finding these undervalued guys who have as much potential as 4-5 star guys that other teams are breaking the bank over.

[thf24]

Here's what I don't get about McKinney and his situation. Didn't pretty much everyone associated with MSU say he was gonna be a stud BEFORE he even stepped on campus? How did everyone else miss out on a guy that is possibly the best LB in the SEC? I mean guys were writing articles about him in high school and I think he was in possibly the first MSU spring article his true freshman year saying how dominant he was and how much promise he had.

It absolutely amazes me how that kind of thing can happen. I know kids are still growing and that kind of thing, but it still doesn't take away the amazement that we had a hand in turning a 2 star "dud" into a 1st round draft pick. In 4 years, McKinney could go from unranked 2 star that no one but us knew about to possibly the best LB in the SEC and a 1st round draft pick. That's absolutely astonishing. Credit to our staff for finding him, but big time credit to McKinney for putting in the time and work to be the best he could be.

Maybe this is oversimplifying things, and maybe I'm off here, but here's what it seems like to me. The way I see it there are three kinds of schools.

1) The kind who the best players, both in terms of ability and character, flock to. It's easy to pick them out, just offer all the names that stand out, and identify the good ones once they all show up on your doorstep. Not a whole lot of effort required. They don't even bother looking for the diamonds in the rough because they already have a full class of sure things lined up. These are the Bamas, Floridas, LSU's, USCw's, Ohio States, ect.

2) The kind who watch who 1) offers and pick up the scraps, whatever they can get. Should be pretty obvious who I'm talking about.

3) The kind who knows they can't consistently compete (yet) for the cream without an in but still want guys who fit them, so they put in the work and identify the hidden talent and potential that 1) passes over because they have plenty of top talent lined up without trying. That's obviously us.

Again, I know it's not that simple and I know all three of these hypothetical levels still put in a lot of work, it just seems like that's how it shakes out in the end.

[KB21]

We continuously see how well our coaches recruit and develop undervalued high school talent. Jonathan Banks is one that comes to mind. Chris Jones was almost an unknown kid until recruiting services caught on to him late in the game. We had been on him long before any of that. If our coaches were recruiting on a level field and not having to compete with the big purse illegal recruiting programs around the SEC we would be competing for Atlanta every year. Since we cannot use the OM, Auburn recruiting tactic$, we have to rely on finding these undervalued guys who have as much potential as 4-5 star guys that other teams are breaking the bank over.

Taveze Calhoun is another. He's a stud and a more physical version of J Banks.

[MetEdDawg]

We continuously see how well our coaches recruit and develop undervalued high school talent. Jonathan Banks is one that comes to mind. Chris Jones was almost an unknown kid until recruiting services caught on to him late in the game. We had been on him long before any of that. If our coaches were recruiting on a level field and not having to compete with the big purse illegal recruiting programs around the SEC we would be competing for Atlanta every year. Since we cannot use the OM, Auburn recruiting tactic$, we have to rely on finding these undervalued guys who have as much potential as 4-5 star guys that other teams are breaking the bank over.

So many outside of our fan base (and even some inside) think that we overblow this point. It's absolutely ridiculous to think we don't have one of the best staffs in the country at evaluating and developing talent. Like you said, there is a huge difference between getting talent and evaluating talent. Gabe Jackson, Johnthan Banks, Darius Slay (was a two star out of high school before JUCO), now McKinney. You could include Day and Clausell because a big year by either of them could get them into the draft I think. Either way I think both could sign as free agents and they were both consensus 2 stars. Then add in unranked Chris Jones (obviously before he blew up in the rankings) who USM said wasn't good enough to play in C-USA. Now McShay says he's standing out on film as a true freshman and is a freak.

We evaluate the hell out of high school kids and know what talent looks like. It's easy to spot a 5 star kid that all these recruiting sites evaluate and watch constantly. But guys like McKinney and Banks and others are only found by true talent evaluation skills and figuring out what makes a kid tick to drive him to be his best. I think you would be hard pressed to find a staff better than ours at this. We put guys like McPhee, Cox, Sherrod, Boyd, Dixon, and a few others in the NFL Draft that were 4 star recruits. Lot of schools do that. But there aren't too many teams that can consistently put the McKinney's, Banks', or Jackson's of the world in the NFL Draft.

[Dawg61]

I think Mullen & Co take pride in developing players. Mississippi is a gold mine for athletes. They find the right character guys that are freak athletes and they develop them. They have a system in place at this point. Freezus can't develop players and honestly few can. It isn't easy to do. Mullen has proven he can over and over and it's a domino effect now.

[War Machine Dawg]

I think Mullen & Co take pride in developing players. Mississippi is a gold mine for athletes. They find the right character guys that are freak athletes and they develop them. They have a system in place at this point. Freezus can't develop players and honestly few can. It isn't easy to do. Mullen has proven he can over and over and it's a domino effect now.

This. Anyone here remember one of the things Mullen said attracted him our job? The quality of athletes in MS and how many player per capita we've put into the NFL. He repeatedly said that if you can get a large portion of those guys to all come to the same school, you'd have a serious winner on your hands. He also made a point to visit every HS in the state every year and develop relationships with the HS coaches. I remember a couple of years ago him talking about finding Quay Evans and how Morton was a place a lot of coaches aren't going to visit regularly because it's not on the way to anywhere. It's somewhere you have to be intentional about visiting, and a lot of HSs in MS are like that. East Webster, where we found Johnthan Banks, is another good example. It takes WORK to effectively recruit MS and our staff excels at it.

[RougeDawg]

So many outside of our fan base (and even some inside) think that we overblow this point. It's absolutely ridiculous to think we don't have one of the best staffs in the country at evaluating and developing talent. Like you said, there is a huge difference between getting talent and evaluating talent. Gabe Jackson, Johnthan Banks, Darius Slay (was a two star out of high school before JUCO), now McKinney. You could include Day and Clausell because a big year by either of them could get them into the draft I think. Either way I think both could sign as free agents and they were both consensus 2 stars. Then add in unranked Chris Jones (obviously before he blew up in the rankings) who USM said wasn't good enough to play in C-USA. Now McShay says he's standing out on film as a true freshman and is a freak.

We evaluate the hell out of high school kids and know what talent looks like. It's easy to spot a 5 star kid that all these recruiting sites evaluate and watch constantly. But guys like McKinney and Banks and others are only found by true talent evaluation skills and figuring out what makes a kid tick to drive him to be his best. I think you would be hard pressed to find a staff better than ours at this. We put guys like McPhee, Cox, Sherrod, Boyd, Dixon, and a few others in the NFL Draft that were 4 star recruits. Lot of schools do that. But there aren't too many teams that can consistently put the McKinney's, Banks', or Jackson's of the world in the NFL Draft.

Let me add Vick Ballard. Believe he was only a 2 star out of HS and went to Perk.

[sandwolf]

I remember a couple of years ago him talking about finding Quay Evans and how Morton was a place a lot of coaches aren't going to visit regularly because it's not on the way to anywhere. It's somewhere you have to be intentional about visiting, and a lot of HSs in MS are like that.

I think that was Chris Jones and Houston that he said that about. Evans was a known commodity that had committed to OM early on and Morton is right on the side of I-20.

[Martianlander]

Keep sending these guys to the pros and the recruits have to notice.

[msstate7]

Keep sending these guys to the pros and the recruits have to notice.

I hope as our recruiting gets better, we still find those overlooked kids that have been the backbone of our program lately