McMillan vs Cunningham | Page 3 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

McMillan vs Cunningham

As usual TedSlimmJr nailed it.

Cunningham is longer and better in coverage, but has a narrow waist and not as effective against the run. I'd say both have A+ drive and very good athleticism. Both are young. As a projection, the only other thing I would add is that McMillan looks to me like an ideal Mike, but with the athleticism to play anywhere across the LB line for us. He has the work ethic and athletics to develop in coverage, but is already an excellent LB for our scheme. To me, McMillan is at least as good of a prospect, if not better, than Timmons was coming out. Giving him the ability to learn from Timmons is ideal.

Now having 4 LB's who are starting caliber (Kiko, Timmons, Misi, and McMillan) is a big improvement over last year. But, none are currently good at coverage, so we still lack that defense against the gameplan that the Baltimore Ravens played against us. IMHO, we'll change our scheme next time to deal with that.

There was a reason McMillan has been ID'd as special from high school, and a reason why his coach--a very good talent scout and recruiter--names McMillan as one of his favorite players ever. The DL coach at Ohio State said McMillan was a frequent participant because after he finished his LB drills he simply wanted more work. That's the type of player Gase wants to lead his defense moving forward. Instincts, athleticism, drive, work ethic, coachability ... McMillan can be the total package.
 
The real question is whether or not he will beat out Koa Misi for the SLB spot....assuming Koa makes it to training camp without an injury.
 
I'm hoping they find good enough placement where alonso, Timmons, and kwon are on the field at the same time.
 
Eesti said:
The real question is whether or not he will beat out Koa Misi for the SLB spot....assuming Koa makes it to training camp without an injury.
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Easily. Healthy or not. Misi and Hewitt will provide solid depth.

The people calling McMillan's speed, quickness, and athleticism a weakness haven't watched this guy play football, IMO. Furthermore, he proved that notion false during the combine. He's a three down linebacker who will anchor the run defense.

I also love the fact that he's only 20 years old and was the leader of that super talented OSU defense that featured two top 15 picks
 
I think Cunningham is closer to be another Kiko who can run around but he's not even close to be the tackler that McMillian is. I believe we got the better player, specially for what we need. Someone to help us play the run better than we did last year. Happy to have him, Hayes, Jones and the two DT's that we drafted to help us improve our run defense which in turn will help our pass rush.

Ozzy rules!!
 
Danny said:
I think Cunningham is closer to be another Kiko who can run around but he's not even close to be the tackler that McMillian is. I believe we got the better player, specially for what we need. Someone to help us play the run better than we did last year. Happy to have him, Hayes, Jones and the two DT's that we drafted to help us improve our run defense which in turn will help our pass rush.

Ozzy rules!!
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Agree with what someone else said earlier: more athlete than football player. And the difference in speed and athleticism between Cunningham and McMillan isn't nearly as big enough as people make it out to be.

The last thing this defense needs is another guy who has a knack for missing tackles. McMillan is a thumper who has improved enough in coverage to show that there's upside there going forward.

Three down backer for the next decade.
 
Cunningham is not a bad tackler (in today's football world). He is almost exclusively a wrap tackler, instead of a "thumper." The value of his approach: easier on the body, less chances for concussions, etc. The downside, those wraps end up looking like arm tackles on the NFL level and his misses will go up. What I really appreciate about McMillian (besides his intangibles of character, self-motivation, etc.), is his strength against the RUN. Everyone knows our run defense was terrible last year. It was part of the reason some were upset with the Harris pick in the 1st. They wanted a DE better against the run. The Fins acquired that type of player with McMillian. His 4.6 speed doesn't always show up in coverage, but he is pretty good still. And the little bit of coverage ability he gives up, he makes up for against the run. I believe Burke wanted Cam Wake's replacement and he wanted him now to start grooming under Wake...once he picked that up in Harris, he wanted McMillian to help shut down the opposing run game. In this regard, I believe McMillian exceeds Cunningham. To be honest, McMillian wasn't really on my radar prior to the draft. But he is a welcome miss on my part.
 
Hoot said:
Cunningham is not a bad tackler (in today's football world). He is almost exclusively a wrap tackler, instead of a "thumper." The value of his approach: easier on the body, less chances for concussions, etc. The downside, those wraps end up looking like arm tackles on the NFL level and his misses will go up. What I really appreciate about McMillian (besides his intangibles of character, self-motivation, etc.), is his strength against the RUN. Everyone knows our run defense was terrible last year. It was part of the reason some were upset with the Harris pick in the 1st. They wanted a DE better against the run. The Fins acquired that type of player with McMillian. His 4.6 speed doesn't always show up in coverage, but he is pretty good still. And the little bit of coverage ability he gives up, he makes up for against the run. I believe Burke wanted Cam Wake's replacement and he wanted him now to start grooming under Wake...once he picked that up in Harris, he wanted McMillian to help shut down the opposing run game. In this regard, I believe McMillian exceeds Cunningham. To be honest, McMillian wasn't really on my radar prior to the draft. But he is a welcome miss on my part.
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Keep on mind that in order to pass rush you need to stop the run so having a LB that can play the run like him will help our pass rush as well. Coaches always say, do what you have to do so that you can do what you want to do. So stop the run and you'll be able to rush the QB

Ozzy rules!!
 
Danny said:
Keep on mind that in order to pass rush you need to stop the run so having a LB that can play the run like him will help our pass rush as well. Coaches always say, do what you have to do so that you can do what you want to do. So stop the run and you'll be able to rush the QB

Ozzy rules!!
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I like Harris. The McMillian pick makes the Harris pick better.
 
No reason McMillan can't get better vs the pass as he grows as a player.

The question is, where do we line everyone up? Does he start? Mike or Sam?

Misi as depth is so so so much better than being a plan A, and with less snaps, he's less likely to be injured. This Chase Allen guy is interesting, but ultimately, still just an udfa
 
Travis34 said:
No reason McMillan can't get better vs the pass as he grows as a player.

The question is, where do we line everyone up? Does he start? Mike or Sam?

Misi as depth is so so so much better than being a plan A, and with less snaps, he's less likely to be injured. This Chase Allen guy is interesting, but ultimately, still just an udfa
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I would love to see McMillian given a shot at SAM.
 
From the games I've watched, it seemed like Cunningham's tackles just came to him because the rest of the defense sucked. He didn't make any more impact plays than the other linebackers in the conversation, he just was around the ball a lot.

Watching some McMillan, he looks like he has great football instincts and maneuvers himself through zone coverage intelligently. I remember watching him in zone coverage converging on routes that he wasn't even looking at. I was like, damn, how did he even know the receiver was there? If you watch his highlights were he breaks up passes, you can see what I'm talking about. Most guys would just go straight into coverage, but he kind of sits in different lanes to take away passes while he transitions between receivers in his zone. I don't think he'll have trouble with the mental adjustment to the next level of speed.
 
just watched some film from Michigan tape and I'm impressed must admit I wanted Cunningham but McMillan looks damn good much happier after watching the film
 
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