More McKinney Hype

[sandwolf]

This is from Monday, so my apologies if Germans.

From Fox Sports' "Freaks Week: Ranking the Top 20 'Freaks' in college football for '14":


11. Benardrick McKinney, LB, Mississippi State Bulldogs
A former high school QB, McKinney has morphed into a star SEC linebacker, piling up 173 tackles the past two seasons.
Now measuring in at an imposing 6-5, 250, he still has the wheels to go sideline to sideline, clocking a 4.5 40. McKinney's vertical jump also is 34 inches.

http://msn.foxsports.com/college-football/story/ranking-top-20-cfb-freaks-2014-college-football-preseason-070714?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=t.co

[BeardoMSU]

He is essentially a KJ Wright 'clone', in the best and most complimentary sense possible. He's a freakin' stud.

[engie]

Didn't he actually drop a few spots in this ranking from a year ago?

Still a beast when he wants to be. I'm hoping we see his game become more consistent and well-rounded this year. He kinda disappeared at times last season...

[War Machine Dawg]

Didn't he actually drop a few spots in this ranking from a year ago?

Still a beast when he wants to be. I'm hoping we see his game become more consistent and well-rounded this year. He kinda disappeared at times last season...

I still think his drop in production last season had more to do with our depth at LB. Plus our DTs were nasty and got plenty of tackles, too.

[engie]

I still think his drop in production last season had more to do with our depth at LB. Plus our DTs were nasty and got plenty of tackles, too.

I'm not really talking about the numbers differential last year. In 2012, he really had no one behind him -- while last year, he had Richie backing him up. That naturally hurt his production to an extent. Moreso, I'm talking about what I actually saw last year with MAs and "instincts" at times. I thought that he allowed himself to become a nonfactor at times(he seemed to disappear against LSU and Bama, while Wells shined, and while Beniquez shined against Bama). This was particularly agitating because when he "turned it on"(or maybe when "we turned him lose" would be the better terming), he wreaked total havoc much like Chris Jones in these games.

Part of it was us not using his athleticism aggressively enough behind the LOS and instead making him read/react too much, which we seem to be addressing this year.

I want to see him turned loose far more often this year. Let Wells and Beni handle the majority of the pass pro -- and let McKinney roam and blitz more often...

[War Machine Dawg]

I'm not really talking about the numbers differential last year. In 2012, he really had no one behind him -- while last year, he had Richie backing him up. That naturally hurt his production to an extent. Moreso, I'm talking about what I actually saw last year with MAs and "instincts" at times. I thought that he allowed himself to become a nonfactor at times(he seemed to disappear against LSU and Bama, while Wells shined, and while Beniquez shined against Bama). This was particularly agitating because when he "turned it on"(or maybe when "we turned him lose" would be the better terming), he wreaked total havoc much like Chris Jones in these games.

Part of it was us not using his athleticism aggressively enough behind the LOS and instead making him read/react too much, which we seem to be addressing this year.

I want to see him turned loose far more often this year. Let Wells and Beni handle the majority of the pass pro -- and let McKinney roam...

I can totally agree with that. Really, really want to see us turn him loose to get after the QB this year and freelance more in his assignments.

[Jack Lambert]

Do you all think he has a chance to end up being picked in the 1st round?

[Political Hack]

He is essentially a KJ Wright 'clone', in the best and most complimentary sense possible. He's a freakin' stud.

except he doesn't have hands of stone.

[Political Hack]

Do you all think he has a chance to end up being picked in the 1st round?

in the right situation, absolutely. I think he ends up on the outside on a 3-4 team.

[engie]

Do you all think he has a chance to end up being picked in the 1st round?

He's projected to. He will probably be someone that will help his draft stock in a combine setting as well, with his athletic "freak" attributes, much like Fletcher did...