It’s Draft Week in the NFL. With that being said, let’s take a look at some players in the draft. We’ll start with Kool-Aid Mckinstry.
School: Alabama
Postion: Cornerback
McKinstry is one of the top cornerbacks in the country. He has helped out on special teams as a punt returner. Last year, he had 32 tackles, 24 solo tackles, and seven passes defended. On special teams, he had 14 punt returns for 86 yards. In his career at Alabama, McKinstry had 92 tackles, 61 solo tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, and 35 punt returns for 418 yards.
Last year, McKinstry was a semi-finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the country’s top defensive back, and a semi-finalist for the Lott IMPACT trophy. He also earned various first-team and second-team honors.
Combine Results, and Strengths and Weaknesses
Mckinstry didn’t participate in the combine because of a fracture in his foot. However, he ran a reported 4.47-second 40-yard dash at Alabama’s pro day. Mckinstry is strong, physical, aggressive, and has good speed. While he can play both man and zone coverage, he is better in man coverage. While McKinstry is better in man coverage, in zone coverage, he is good at reading the quarterback and reacting to what the quarterback does. Kool-Aid can also bait quarterbacks into making bad decisions. He is very good at deflecting passes and can make offenses lose yards on passing plays. He can return punts.
As for weaknesses, his style of play can cross the line between legal and flag-worthy. He can be too aggressive sometimes and needs to learn when to be aggressive and when not. He’s also inconsistent in his decision-making and the effort that he puts into each play.
"The biggest improvement I’d say I’m looking at is just being more consistent," McKinstry said at the combine. "Being consistent in every thing I do, whether that’s a practice, a game, or a walk-through rep. It’s about being consistent and treating every rep, every walk-through, every practice like it’s the last play of the Super Bowl."
Kool-Aid also struggles against receivers who are faster and more physical than him. He’ll need to become more physical in these situations. McKinstry isn’t very patient, so he needs to be more patient and work on his play recognition skills, which need to improve.
Best Team Fit
Mckinstry is projected to be a first-round pick. I think that the best fit for Mckinstry is the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles' defense struggled last year, and their pass defense was not very good. They were just one of two teams to allow over 250 passing yards per game. Adding Kool-Aid would help the Eagles pass defense and improve their defense overall.
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