IDP 20/20: Takkarist McKinley

Welcome to the IDP 20/20 series. Alongside our offensive Dynasty Scouts coverage, we will also be profiling and providing 20 facts you must know about 15 of the top incoming IDP rookies in the class.

1.) Name – Takkarist McKinley

2.) College – UCLA

3.) Height/weight – 6’2”, 255lbs -265lbs

4.) Birth Date – November 2, 1995 (21 years old)

5.) Class – Senior

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6.) College Stats – 

2016: 61 Total Tackles, 50 Solos, 18 Tackles For Loss, 10 Sacks, 6 Passes Defended

2015: 35 Total Tackles, 27 Solos, 7.5 TFLs, 4.5 Sacks, 4 PDs

2014: 5 Total Tackles, 3 Solos, 3.5 TFLs, 2.5 Sacks, 0 PDs

7.) NFL Draft Round Projection – Round 1-3. McKinley has been mocked in as early as the first and as late as the third round. With a solid amount of pass rush talent in this draft and diversity of rusher types, his mock position standard deviation should stay high. I suspect only subset of teams looking for his type will be willing to pay a first round price tag, thus we could see a draft slip.

8.) Best Possible destination – This is an interesting question on the IDP side of the ball. From a raw football point of view I think his best landing spot is a slanting 3-4, a scheme with more one-gapping concepts than the more standard two gapping 3-4. A good example of this is the Pittsburgh Steelers. From a fantasy perspective he would more value as a 4-3 leo type. The best possible team landing spot would be Miami, were he would hone his craft playing rotationally with the aging Cameron Wake.

9.) Current NFL Comp: Honestly he reminds me of Bud Dupree as a prospect. He is a raw athlete lacking technique, and rarely uses his hands effectively. With that being said, I think the combine will show there is a lot to work with from an athletic point of view. He will need time to mature and refine his technique in the NFL.

10.) Worst Possible destination – I’ll stick to the fantasy perspective here and say really any 3-4 team which will render him close to useless. In most formats rush linebackers hold little value and even if they are Von Miller, they still can never be top assets.

11.) Best current skills – McKinley is billed as a twitched up, speed pass rusher who is currently undersized for a 4-3 base end. This speed and fluidity shows up on film along with good arm length, which I suspect will be confirmed by the combine measurements.

12.) Skills that need to be improved – McKinley struggles getting off blocks, consistently bending the edge, playing strong enough, using his hands violently, or really having a good game plan on each snap. McKinley seems to run at the tackle with little plan or set up; he just plays it by ear. The interesting thing is that it has been effective, and has warranted double teams at times. Currently he is a very raw prospect.

13.) Projected Dynasty Value – In leagues where defensive scoring is on par with offensive scoring, I see fifth round pick currently. I could see a large jump in value after the draft based on that all important DE designation.

14.) As a prospect – McKinley was a four-star prospect and was ranked as the fourth defensive end in the country by 247 sports.

15.) On Film – McKinley looks good from a box score perspective. If you watch a highlight reel you can easily think he is an absolute menace. The play by play film tells a different story. A number of his sacks come from fold blocks, protection slides, and play action misses instead of overwhelming power or skills. There are a few plays that make you saw wow, but they are rare. McKinley was absolutely stifled when teams chose to double team him like during the Utah game. McKinley did show an array of countermoves such as an inside spin, rip and swim although they are often too slow and too divorced from his initial move to be effective.  I think McKinley is really a poor man’s Dupree because I see the same holes and I see similar athletic upside just at a smaller size. It will be interesting to see if edge aficionado Justis Mosqueda deems McKinley as a force player.

16.) Senior Bowl – McKinley missed the Senior Bowl due to a torn labrum. Reportedly he has been playing with the injury for some time, but it was not known until recently. It would have been nice to see how he stacked up in the practice drills and in the game. There are reports he is considering surgery to repair his shoulder but is not clear yet how this could effect his combine status.

17.) The Promise – Recently McKinley promised to run 4.4 forty at the combine this year and posted a small clip of him training. I mentioned Bud Dupree earlier and this promise would best Dupree’s outstanding combine. Just in case you forgot, Dupree ran a 4.53 forty and a had 42 inch vertical jump at nearly 270 pounds.

18.) Position Questions – Nearly all edge players see large value changes once they are drafted since that will solidify their position designation for a few years. Due to McKinley’s lack of size, he is being mocked to mostly 3-4 schemes. Although OLB projections still make it onto 4-3 teams such Noah Spence and Yannick Ngakoue last year. If he ends up on a base 4-3 team, his value will sky rocket in drafts.

19.) Intangibles – From what I can see, McKinley seems like a motivated individual. He did not have the grades his freshman year to play at UCLA, but played hard and got his grades up at junior college. His twitter feed is full quotes of people underrating him and him using it as motivation.

20.) See for yourself – On Draft Breakdown.

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