IDP Rookie SWOT: Raekwon McMillan

Adam Tzikas Posted On July 26, 2017

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Name: Raekwon McMillan

Position: Linebacker

Pro Team: Miami Dolphins

College Team: Ohio State University

Draft Status: Second round, Pick 54

Video Highlights

Combine Review

Height: 6’2” (58th percentile)
Weight: 240 (46th)
Hands: 9 3/4” (59th)
Arms: 33 (71st)
40-yard: 4.61s (81st)
20-yard shuttle: 4.39s (23rd)
3 cone: 7.15s (47th)
Vert: 33” (47th)
Broad: 121” (79th)

Strengths

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Mental Side: McMillan’s biggest strength comes from the mental side of the game. He is incredibly quick to break down the play and expediently reacts to what’s going on in front of him. He reads the quarterback very well and has a knack for finding the running lanes of the running back. He shows great awareness when asked to play in a zone, keeping his eyes forward and staying with receivers. This will get him on the field, and keep him in contention for starting gigs in the middle of defenses.
Shedding Blocks: Sometimes as a linebacker you have no other options than to take on blocks and McMillan couples his mental capacity for football with above average ability to shed blockers and get to the ball carriers. He keeps his 71st percentile arms long when taking on blocks, allowing him to break to the runner at the perfect moment to make the tackle. This also helps him when blitzing.
Young Starter: McMillan graduated highschool early after being rated a 5-star linebacker prospect. He joined OSU for spring practice and played 15 games his first year as a true freshman. McMillan doesn’t turn 21 until November, giving him some age insulation to continue to develop.

Weaknesses

Agility: While McMillan posted a 40 time that many were not expecting his overall agility numbers are pretty pedestrian. To be frank, he looks slow on tape. This causes him to have issues crossing space laterally. When he does guess wrong on a play it’s hard for him to get back into a position to make the tackle.
Weak in coverage: This is concerning for his long-term ability to play on all three downs. McMillan is a liability in coverage as of right now. He doesn’t have agility to cover in man defense and will have issues with one on one receiver assignments. His reaction speed will help him right off the line and in zone defenses, but longer plays his receiver will get away from him.
Movable from his spot: Another large weakness is he shows, at times, to be extremely moveable from his spot. Offensive linemen have been able to push him around a bit when run blocking. This causes him to be lost in the play at times. He will need to continue to bulk up and work on his technique to correct this.
Excellent team mates: One worry is that he has almost always played surrounded by top level college talent. Joey Bosa, Malik Hooker, Eli Apple, Darron Lee, and Vonn Bell just to name a few of the first or second round picks he’s played with. Do they help create for McMillan or is it a testament that he’s produced so well regardless?

Opportunities and Threats

Short term outlooks are not great for Raekwon. Kiko Alonso is locked in to the WILL position and just signed a four-year deal, through 2020, with the Dolphins. The Dolphins also signed veteran middle linebacker Lawrence Timmons from Pittsburg to a two-year deal as well. There is an out in Timmons’s contract, but the cap saving is minimal.

McMillan could physically play SAM but with his lower than average cover skills and problems getting around blocks, the strong side wouldn’t be a great fit. Timmons just turned 31 so McMillan can learn from one of the underrated greats active right now, and hopefully step in sooner rather than later. He has the ability to be a good to great middle linebacker in the NFL, but if he doesn’t step up in coverage, he will have a hard time becoming a true three down linebacker.

Short-Term Expectations

As noted above, short-term is really bad for McMillan. If there is an injury, he can walk into a role with minimal work, and we know how fragile Alonso can be. If Timmons has fallen into an age decline, again McMillan can steal some work from him. There are lots of IF’s there. His lack of rookie year production could keep his price very low, a boon to supporters.

Long-Term Expectations

It’s extremely obvious that McMillan is the heir apparent to that middle linebacker job in Miami. It’s just a problem of waiting for this to happen for him. It could be next year, or it could be the following one. He has the tools and traits that are coveted at that position, has talented players around him to learn from, and has the college production that indicates he can handle the NFL workload.

NFL Comparison

Oddly enough, Lawrence Timmons is the comparisons that comes to mind. Beyond being an 86% match on MockDraftable, they both possess eerily similar run-stopping and play-diagnosing abilities.

Projected Range in Rookie Drafts

Depending on IDP scoring, I’ve seen McMillan go from the third round to the fifth round in rookie drafts, sometimes even later. When the offense starts to really thin out and you want a decent stash at the linebacker position look no further than the second rounder out of Ohio State.

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Adam Tzikas

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

Adam "StickyZ" Tzikas burns in the South Florida sun while he contemplates tweets no one will read. He is an avid nerd and hosts an IDP podcast with a bloke from the UK.