McMillan vs Cunningham

[Beach Bum]

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.

Damn, dude. I was already excited about McMillan, but now my excitement just jumped 10 fold. I love guys who have the kind of work ethic you described. Not saying he will be a Zach Thomas, but no one can say he's not a football player! The dude brings it and when I watched his highlights, he reminded me of Zach the way he tackled and wrapped up. It was like, when he gets his mitts on you, it's all over but the crying. Love it!

 

[jbyrd850]

I really like the guy even though I'm not gonna lie I haven't seen a ton of tape on him, but he was labeled as a hard nosed middle lb guy and then he went to the combine and ran a 4.6, he comes from a top program, national champion, I dont see anything not to like, i was just kinda surprised cause his NFL draft profile has him ranked kinda low for where he was picked. I know that doesn't mean jack in reality but just odd mor scouts didn't like this guy.

 

[Digital]

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.

Yes, that is a question, but not one I'm particularly concerned about answering. My rationale is that Misi has a horrible track record of staying healthy. Kiko's health record isn't too great either, despite a mostly healthy year last year. Timmons is old, and we all know that older players get injured more. From my perspective, we have 4 guys who can all play Sam and all have experience playing Mike. In Kiko and McMillan we have 2 guys who can cover the Will spot. All in all, we have positional coverage, experience, and athleticism for every position all year. Since we play mostly nickel, that means we really need 2 healthy LB's, and with 4 competent ones, we will have that. I'm confident that McMillan will see a lot of snaps this year, regardless of whether he starts the year at Sam or not.

More of concern to me isn't whether McMillan will beat out Misi at Sam, but who can demonstrate coverage ability to play in the nickel? All of these guys have good range as run and chase LB's. But none seem great at coverage. Hopefully McMillan and Kiko can improve, as those two appear to be our long-term answer at the position, IMHO.

I will say this though, building with a LB corps that primarily consists of Kiko and Raekwon probably means we will generate more takeaways than we have been pre-Gase ... and that really excites me.

 

[BobDole]

I had foster (due to possibly having some screws loose), davis, mcmillan, and Cunningham all as about equal but in different ways. Foster is the dream if he can keep his **** together ... big if though. No holes in his game that I saw though ... run ... pass ... doesn't matter he has it all.

Davis and McMillan were nearly identical to me ... but getting one at 54 when one went at 21 obviously had more appeal to me ... that whole value thing. Both of those guys have good instincts, navigate through traffic well, and lay the lumber. All things we've been missing. Plus I think they are probably the safest of the 4 in terms of how low their floor is. Not gonna be many surprises there.

Cunningham's tackling issues can be corrected, but I think his problem is going to be that wiry frame. He's got that Telvin Smith body type that looks like any added weight might be bad weight ... scrapping the athlete. I didn't notice it as much until the underwear olympics. He's gotta get stronger and I don't know how much there is to work with. Was an absolute joy to watch at Vandy though.

I would've liked any of them but prefer how we did it at 54. I thought they'd all be long gone by 40. Having 4 good options like that was a gift from the football gods ... so pumped we took advantage.

 

[Digital]

Will Tang Clan Ain't Nothin To F' Wit

Clever! If he plays Will that's going to catch on. :brewskis:

 

[Feverdream]

Kiko is a Will. It's the position that he was drafted to play. We moved him to MLB, cuz our backers sucked. Now he's where he belongs. Timmons was brought in as a stopgap to play middle until we found a youngster. McMillan was the pick... he'll work in at SAM til we bump Timmons out. Most of the highly touted backers were (as always) 3-4 pass rushers and Wills.... that's not what we needed. We took the right guy.

 

[ghostface95]

Timmons is the Sam. At FSU in a 4-3 that was the position he played.
Misi will back him up.

Raekwon the Chef is the Mike. Hull is the backup.

KA47 is the Will. Hewitt is the backup.

Checkmate, problem solved, well dudes there you have it.

 

[Pandarilla]

Style vs. Substance. Cunningham is fun to watch, looks like he's playing pop Warner the way he just vultures people down with his arms. Raekwon has the thick knees and can still outrun Cunningham. He's got prototype size and a Damn good pedigree. He only missed 24 tackles, or about 1 out of ten. Meanwhile, Cunningham has the best rap music in the background of his YouTube highlight reel.

 

[broccoli rob]

I watched a draft recap with Perkins and Omar Kelly and Kelly flat out said McMillian isn't a impactful physical linebacker.

I swear that man is ****ing ********.

He also said that Tunsil, prior to the bong gas mask video, was NEVER going to be the first lineman drafted in the 2016 draft

 

[DearbornDolfan]

I thought Cunningham was more aggressive at the point of attack and a more vicious tackler, but there's just not much available on McMillan to watch. Don't really like McMillan's South Beach Chillin tweet, either. But the leaders on D will be on his ass in a heartbeat if he slacks off. Nobody wants to face down a pissed off Suh.

 

[Michael Scott]

I thought Cunningham was more aggressive at the point of attack and a more vicious tackler, but there's just not much available on McMillan to watch. Don't really like McMillan's South Beach Chillin tweet, either. But the leaders on D will be on his ass in a heartbeat if he slacks off. Nobody wants to face down a pissed off Suh.

I wouldn't put much into that tweet. Who isn't going to be excited about South Beach being their new home.... Especially a 20 year old. Everything about this kid screams high character/hard worker/film junkie.

I mean.... Zach Thomas enjoyed the city too. Doesn't mean he didn't work his ass off.

 

[dtjp17]

Love this pick me kiper is an idiot

 

[number1fin]

McMillan is only 20 and a true junior. Already an ox and extremely well put together. Very, very solid dude coming out of college ready to compete strength wise at the highest level.

I would agree...

[video=youtube_share;rHEjb2uFOg4]https://youtu.be/rHEjb2uFOg4[/video]

 

[Vaark]

Love this pick me kiper is an idiot

Actually, if Kiper was a man of his word, based on the Jimmy Clausen bet he made with McShay in 2010, he should soon be retiring from BSPN,

Promised in 2010 to retire in eight years if Jimmy Clausen wasn’t a successful NFL QB. While most people viewed Clausen as a second round pick, Kiper had him as the fourth best player in the entire draft. People were quick to point out that Kiper’s rankings might be biased because of his friendship with Clausen’s agent, Gary Wichard — something Kiper scoffed at. Kiper was so confident in his analysis of Clausen that he had this infamous exchange with ESPN foil Todd McShay: Kiper: “If Jimmy Clausen is not a successful quarterback in the NFL, I’m done. That’s it. I’m out.” McShay: “What is your time frame, Mel? When do we make that assessment?” Kiper: “I want eight years.”

More examples of Mel's impeccable judgement of talent:
Ranked Andre Wadsworth the No. 1 overall prospect of 1998 NFL Draft ahead of Charles Woodson and Peyton Manning and compared him to Bruce Smith

• Said in 1995, “Ki-Jana (Carter) could be the next Bo Jackson”
• Called Packers drafting Matt Hasselbeck in the 1998 6th round a waste of a pick
• Gave Seahawks’ 2012 draft a C- grade after they picked Bruce Irvin, Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson
• Had NFL draft bust Dan McGwire and Hall of Famer Brett Favre rated evenly as QB prospects before the 1991 draft
• Thought 1988 29th overall pick and four-time Pro Bowler Chris Spielman would be a fourth or fifth round pick
• Rated LaDainian Tomlinson tied for the 25th best player in the 2001 draft
• Said 1990 7th overall pick Andre Ware would be an “excellent” NFL quarterback
• Kiper upped the ante by naming Curry the best player in the entire 2009 draft ahead of players like Matthew Stafford, Brian Cushing, Jeremy Maclin, Clay Matthews and LeSean McCoy.
• Said 1999 3rd overall pick Akili Smith would be a “great” NFL player
• Proclaimed Johnny Manziel would be 2014’s #1 overall pick
• When asked in a draft recap show who would have the best career of the QB Class of 2011, Kiper said it would be Stanzi — over fellow QBs like Cam Newton and Andy Dalton.
• Said 1998 2nd overall pick Ryan Leaf’s attitude would be an “asset” in NFL
• Said that JaMarcus Russell could be a top five NFL QB and was “John Elway-like” at 2007 NFL Draft
• Despite sitting out a year while attempting to enter the NFL draft after his sophomore year, ex-USC wide receiver Mike Williams had Mel Kiper drinking the Kool-Aid. How high? Kiper had Williams rated as the best player in the entire draft ahead of players like Alex Smith, DeMarcus Ware and Aaron Rodgers — among others.
• And then of course, there's the love for Brady Quinn

http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/mel-kipers-top-10-nfl-draft-blunders.html

 

[Shula Fan]

I'm really surprised that with the ESPN house cleaning, Mel Kiper wasn't let go too. He's horrible!!

Hopefully they just waited until after the draft.