I've been hearing good things about him and I know Omar Kelly has been raving about him and this just happened: Andrew Abramson @AbramsonPBP · 1m · Rising UFA LB Chris McCain with a hard hit of WR Matt Hazel, who fumbles. Since I know little of him from playing in college, thoughts?
McCain could be a nice addition if he can stay out of trouble... Really hate that Walker gave Omar a "shout out" about McCain as though Omar had any damn thing whatsoever to do McCain... Also some good stuff on Tripp this morning...
Sometimes it pays to roll the dice on a few of those uber athletes that managed to screw things up for themselves one way or another. But when you do that you really have to make sure you're getting paid for the risk. That's one reason I don't quite get the Walt Aikens pick. Relatively speaking he's not super duper compelling of an athlete, either on tape or in a track and field setting. As for my thoughts on Chris McCain, I'll just defer to what I wrote on May 20th:
And I think we just found out why he went undrafted....hopefully he has learned from his past and stays out of trouble.
It actually feels very good to have two young kids to develop for a strong LB corps in the future. A fifth round pick and an UDFA - that would be great.
Don't forget Jenkins, a 4th rounder last year. He seems pretty light to be making the roster at 225, like CK says probably a practice squad guy
I wouldn't stamp his spot on the roster quite yet but I will say that his odds of making the roster may be higher than I originally envisioned simply because the LB unit is pretty thin. Basically the only guys you're sure you want to roster on that unit are Misi, Wheeler, Ellerbe, Tripp and Jenkins. That leaves a 6th position occupied by Jason Trusnik, and potentially a 7th position occupied by Jonathan Freeny...and those are very weak place-holders.
He's the Gator Hoskins of the defensive group in that you probably see some good things and really want to hold on to him in a developmental role. Only thing is I see Hoskins being poached if we put him on the practice squad.
I can't believe CK's guy Lackey has caught on somewhere. I'd draft him with my 1st pick if I were a CfL guy.
It's always great to see a diamond in the rough pop out especially for a little of nothing. High hopes.
In other words you're correct ,and moving him from CB to Safety should be seen as a positive adjustment from our coaching staff. Something that has been lacking for a few years now.
I do believe that LB and RB are the most likely positions to unearth late round gems at. There are always physical freaks at those positions available and the instincts for the position don't seem as rare other positions.
I agree. I do not recall Blomar Kelly being any more high on McCain when he was signed, or at mini-camp than most other people who follow the team.
6'6" 250lbs, hard hitter, plays with a bit of a mean streak? Man. that would be awesome if he does turn out to be a diamond in the rough. He and DJ would look like a couple of pterodactyls comin' atcha'. Combine that with The Kracken and Vernon and you got a friggin' monster movie coming at you. Ahh. Sounds good. I can dream.
You just have to hope he gets his head on straight and grows up a bit in enough time so as to not lose his shot.
Interesting that he's now up to 250... he was 224 for his pro day. Guess he's been eating his Wheaties I watched this video after he was signed. Guy is a Bryan Cox clone... same size, same mobility, same hard hitting mother effer. [video=youtube;fZHh8v9OlEE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZHh8v9OlEE[/video]
His Pro day indicates he is not a workout warrior overall. Dates: 03/19/14 Height: 6053 Weight: 224 40 Yrd Dash: 4.67 20 Yrd Dash: 2.72 10 Yrd Dash: 1.69 225 Lb. Bench Reps: 10 Vertical Jump: 32 Broad Jump: 10'01" 20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.51 3-Cone Drill: 7.04
That was one of my three keys for him to make the team. He was way too weak in college compared to what he needed to be. Some guys can be lengthy and kind of skinny at the position but they're still made of wood. He wasn't one of those guys. He needed a lot more muscle mass. If he's up to 250 lbs and still moving around really well that's an excellent sign from him. And it sounds like he's already making a name for himself in the passing game, which was one of the two ways he could immediately get his foot in the door. The other shoe to drop is special teams. If you see him making plays on special teams in the preseason then I think it might be time to start penciling him onto your 53 man rosters.
Other than the 40 times his numbers were avg to poor Take for instance his 20 yard shuttle time of 4.51 seconds Out of 25 outside linebackers at the combine his number would have been 26th...dead last His 10 bench presses shows he didn't spend much time in the weight roomand would have rated last again for all outside,inside,and defensive ends 50th out of 50 who lifted Out of 238 players who lifted, only 12 players lifted less than McCain His vert jump was 32'' which "was poor" would have placed him 19th out of 22 OLB's who participated He did better in his 40 yard dash time which would have had him tied for 11th out of 25 OLBs He did decent with his broad jump at 121 inches which would have had him 8th out of 23 OLBs He did decent with his 7.04 time in the 3 cone drill which would have had him 10th out of 17 OLBs who participated Greg Robinson at 332 lbs had a faster 10 yard time Hopefully he is a player and just doesn't test very well and hopefully he's not on Dion Jordans weight gain program gaining 26 lbs since his pro day