Overrated Mcclain | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Overrated Mcclain

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munchkin

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Ya, I know it shows I'm a new poster-but I lost my old password and got a new email.

Anyways,
I've been studying tape of R.Mcclain recently and honestly don't see anything fantastic about him. He looks like a solid-unspectacular MLB with better than average coverage skills (for a mlb)

I then a watched some film on Maualuga and Laurinaitis from last year to compare. Mcclain reminds me a bit of Laranitis but with better lateral movement but doesn't get off blocks as well.

Remember, both those 2 backers were projected top ten picks as soon as the college football season was over, and both fell to the top of the 2nd round.

Anybody see something SO spectacular about Mcclain to take him at # 12 in the first rd ? If so, I'd like to hear it. I sure don't see P.Willis when I watch tape of Mcclain.
 
Laurinaitis went about where I thought he would.....Maualuga too.....at some point you have to stop buying into the hype surrounding many of these players and evaluate them for yourself....but you have to know what you're looking at or it's a waste of time anyway....

Sounds like you've been able to do that with this post...

The first thing you have to do is stop comparing linebackers to Patrick Willis....or they'll all look like 2nd round picks.....

Strange how I never heard all this love for Patrick Willis before he started dominating in the NFL.....he's the best LB I've scouted and was convinced he was the player that Miami should take at #9...

McClain isn't Patrick Willis.....he's a LOT bigger than Patrick Willis.....and McClain is still only a junior....I think people tend to forget this...

The next time a linebacker comes out of college with Willis' credentials and production and runs a sub 4.4....then he can be compared to Patrick Willis...

You're not going to see very many linebackers with McClain's size/speed/instincts/football IQ/ and playmaking ability that projects as well to the NFL as he does....you just wont...

He gets off blocks extremely well....by not allowing himself to be blocked and let an offensive lineman gain control of him in the first place....

If Rolando McClain is overrated...then there's not a player in the draft that isn't...
 
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Compare film of B.Spikes and R.Mcclain

Mcclain is better, but not by much. Spikes is a far superior blitzer, Mcclain is more well rounded. Yet fans see Mcclain as a sure fire top 12 pick and B.Spikes as an early 2nd rounder. I'd take Mcclain over Spikes for the fins D any day, but the argument could be made that Spikes is more of an impact player from the same position.
 
hell I've been saying Laurinitis was overrated since his sophomore year. He made a living at OSU jumping on piles. He's not a bad player, but he got overrated cause he got 5 INTs his sophomore year (whith about 3 of them being flukes).

McClain is not the same type of player as Little Animal. Little Animal cannot get off blocks. He's a smart player, but he struggled in space.

McClain is also not Rey Rey. Physically, Rey Rey could become a very dominant LB, but what hurt him was his immaturity and his freelancing (he just kind of did whatever he wanted at SC). If Rey Rey could was able to stay in his assignments, he'd be on a 3-4 team.
 
We've already done that ad naseum....Spikes is a better blitzer and and more of a crash-and-burn on a block type linebacker....but he also spends more time on the ground than McClain does and overrunning plays....

McClain has some of the best instincts a linebacker can have....and he's a film junkie...a coach on the field....

I think he plays sideline to sideline better than Spikes....Spikes plays better North and South.....McClain is better in coverage IMO...

I've never had a 1st round grade on Spikes...not even last year...I would always have preferred McClain....

I believe Spikes is still a good player and will be a good player in the NFL....but I think McClain will be better....and most definitely worth a top 12 selection...
 
ChambersWI said:
hell I've been saying Laurinitis was overrated since his sophomore year. He made a living at OSU jumping on piles. He's not a bad player, but he got overrated cause he got 5 INTs his sophomore year (whith about 3 of them being flukes).

McClain is not the same type of player as Little Animal. Little Animal cannot get off blocks. He's a smart player, but he struggled in space.

McClain is also not Rey Rey. Physically, Rey Rey could become a very dominant LB, but what hurt him was his immaturity and his freelancing (he just kind of did whatever he wanted at SC). If Rey Rey could was able to stay in his assignments, he'd be on a 3-4 team.
Click to expand...


i don't dig this... a lot of 4-3 run 2 gap schemes and require responsible linebackers. much like a 3-4 who invertedly can run a gap control scheme (a la miami) ... this point makes no sense IMO


rey rey needed to be surrounded by responsible linebackers, a la channing crowder when he played besides zach thomas ... he could pretty much pitch himself everywhere, he knew zach would clean things up
 
To get drafted in top 12 at ILB, you have to be a serious impact player. Not just a solid steady ILB. If Fins were drafting #20 overall, I'd be rooting big time for Mcclain, but at #12 Fins need an impact player. Get a solid ILB in the later rounds
 
McClain is as overrated as Peyton Manning............
 
JT-forpresident said:
i don't dig this... a lot of 4-3 run 2 gap schemes and require responsible linebackers. much like a 3-4 who invertedly can run a gap control scheme (a la miami) ... this point makes no sense IMO


rey rey needed to be surrounded by responsible linebackers, a la channing crowder when he played besides zach thomas ... he could pretty much pitch himself everywhere, he knew zach would clean things up
Click to expand...



as for mcClain... i'd say he's more of a zach thomas than a rey maualuga... meaning that he'll RARELY miss an assignment, and effectively clean things up
 
munchkin said:
To get drafted in top 12 at ILB, you have to be a serious impact player. Not just a solid steady ILB. If Fins were drafting #20 overall, I'd be rooting big time for Mcclain, but at #12 Fins need an impact player. Get a solid ILB in the later rounds
Click to expand...


That's the difference between McClain and Spikes.....McClain is the best "playmaking" linebacker in the draft....and that's why he most likely won't even be on the board when Miami picks...

I've been watching the kid since high school...I know what he's about....

The thing that he has most in common with Willis is his background off the field....they've both overcome some tough times in their life to get where they are and understand the dedication, hard work, and extra preperation it takes to be the best player they can be on the field...
 
The Mcclain bandwagon is gonna have people jumping off pretty soon. Last year, in this same forum, If you posted that you were hoping Maualuga would fall to the fins at the #25 pick, you would get ridiculed big time, Maualuga was supposed to be a surefire top 15 pick. (he ended up getting drafted #38)

It's the same every year. The star power of what a player accomplished in college fades as the college season gets further behind us. Mcclains star will fade over the next few months and fans will realize that solid ILB's with great intangibles don't get picked at the top of the draft. Besides Fullbacks, Guards and Centers, ILB's get the least respect when it comes to the draft. History shows it.
While Mcclain is as solid of a prospect as they come, he doesn't play an impact position and he's not an elite impact player
 
The only people fooled by the Maualuga hype were the one's who subscribed to it in the first place......and only watched the highlight clips of his "big hits"....

I was never fooled by it....you can dig back to some of the Maualuga threads around here last year and see for yourself....

I dont think NFL teams fell for it either....

McClain is the antithesis of Maualuga.....what allows you to be an "impact" player and "playmaker" is the things that McClain possesses that Maualuga didn't....

Benchpressing a Buick and running like the wind isn't what makes a playmaker (see Vernon Gholston)....

What makes a playmaker is being able to combine rare physical traits with the instincts and work ethic it takes to gain an edge on your opponent......instincts and dedication to film study is what allowed players like Zach Thomas to be "playmakers" at the ILB position....and had nowhere near the physical tools that McClain has...

Rey Lewis isn't Rey Lewis because of his rather mediocre height/weight combination or 40 time.....it's his instincts and work ethic that will put him in the HOF...

While it is true that inside linebacker isn't an overvalued position on draft day....(similar to safety, etc.)....it is important to know when an impact ILB is staring you in the face instead of a 175 pound "playmaker" with track speed....for example...

Maualuga was the 3rd USC linebacker off the board because he was the 3rd best to begin with....
 
Clearly the NFL was not fooled by the overhyped Maualuga, he went in the 2nd round.
Ray Lewis was a beast at Miami U, Ray Lewis was a great ILB prospect. Ray Lewis got drafted 26th overall.
 
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