I've just never been impressed with McKinney. He looks like a guy that struggles with fluidity....
I'm seeing that in McKinney's clips as well. Everybody sees the height and sub-4.6 speed and gets excited, but there's something about the way he moves and tackles that makes me want to say "pass". I could be wrong, but he looks to me like a very fast, undersized DE.
Everybody enjoys watching Perryman blow up ball carriers, but I'm equally impressed with his angles and closing speed. There's little doubt he's an instinctual and hard hitting player. My concern is that he might be too much of a downhill and straight-line player. Combine that with his height and one wonders how he'd handle NFL TEs in coverage. If the object is to get Matthews out of the middle in nickel, coverage skills are paramount. Evidently Perryman was opening some eyes in the Senior Bowl practices. Unfortunately, he strained an abdominal and will miss the game. I would have liked to see more of him handling coverages.
In any event, I think we have a sufficient physical presence in the middle with Barrington; a more versatile player would be the answer. So far I like Kendricks the best of the leading candidates. He looks like more of flow player than an attacker, while being a fundamentally sound tackler, which looks like the right compliment to Barrington. He looks decent in coverage from what I've seen; he looks to be reading the QB well; he's probably a few ticks faster than Barrington, or Perryman for that matter. Just a polished all-around player.
The only negatives I see are (1) his height and (2) the fact he might be a stretch at #30 and may not be around at #60.
