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Home / frontnfl / 2021 NFL Draft Scouting Report: DL Alim McNeill
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2021 NFL Draft Scouting Report: DL Alim McNeill


Positional ranking: #5

Big Board ranking: #86

 

Overview

Position: DL

College: NC State

Class:  Junior

Age: 20

 

Measurables

Height: 6’1 7/8”

Weight: 317 lbs.

Arm length: 32 5/8”

Hand size: 9 3/8”

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.94 sec.

Vertical jump: 30.5”

Broad jump: 108.0”

Bench press: 27 reps

3-cone drill: 7.71 sec.

Short shuttle: 4.59 sec.

 

Strengths

Penetrating nose tackle. Very stout and strong. Tremendous natural athlete with some skills of a smaller player. Built low to the ground to create leverage. Exceptional feet and nimbleness at his size. Rare pursuit speed for a nose tackle. Can be tough to move off the ball. Good initial burst at the snap. Accurate hand placement to the chest of offensive linemen. Maximizes length by extending at the point of attack. Will bench off a blocker and make a tackle in the backfield. Bullies smaller centers. Strong and effective pull-down move. Impressive juice as a pass rusher for his size/build. Showed a mid-rush burst. Pushes the pocket with power. Uses a spin move. Quick to react and try to deflect a pass. Has the skillset to be a three technique and fit in various schemes. Competitive with a funny on-field personality.

 

Weaknesses

Slow to disengage and make a tackle laterally. Often has a would-be tackle just out of reach. Average play recognition. Could see him get in the running lane to make a play for himself more often. Can give up on pursuit too easily. Stamina is a possible concern.

 

NFL comparison

Michael Pierce

 

Conclusion

Overall, McNeill is an athletic, low-built defensive lineman with the power to control things on the interior. Although he was a nose tackle at NC State, McNeill should provide added versatility at the next level with the explosiveness to penetrate to go along with the strength to two-gap.

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