Player: Roger McCreary

School: Auburn

Height and Weight:  5’11”, 190

Combine/Pro Day Results:

• 40: 4.5(Combine), 4.46(Pro Day)
• Bench: 19(Pro Day)
• Broad Jump: 9’8”(Pro Day)
• Vertical Jump: 31.5”(Pro Day)
• 3 Cone: 6.96(Pro Day)
• Other Notes: McCreary only did the 40 and on field workouts at the combine, which I don’t understand. Then at his pro day competed in everything; the only problem is that his numbers were unimpressive. He improved his 40 time, but it still would’ve been right around the combine average. He would’ve been the top of the bench press at the combine, but his jumps and 3-cone would’ve been bottom of the barrel. If you are going to sit out of the combine to give yourself more time to get ready to test, I would’ve hoped for better numbers. Luckily for McCreary numbers aren’t everything, and he has decent tape.

Strengths: Zone coverage, good vision, baiting quarterbacks

Weaknesses: Man coverage, turning head, crossing routes, inconsistent physicality, good route runners, not a run game corner

Projected Draft Day: Day 2

Player Comparison: Trevon Diggs 

Player Summary:  McCreary is a cornerback who in an ideal world could use some more time to develop before taking on a starting role; however, I saw enough from McCreary to be comfortable with him if you did have to start him on day 1. I see McCreary fitting in more with a team that runs a fairly balanced defense in terms of man to zone coverage, but a defense that runs more zone than man would be an ideal spot for McCreary. McCreary is an average coverage cornerback, not top notch at either man or zone by any means, although I thought he looked a little more comfortable and free to make plays in zone. In zone, he looked like he had solid vision of the play and field at all times. When in zone or even playing off-man McCreary showed a fairly strong ability to bait, and jump routes.

McCreary’s biggest weaknesses flashed in man coverage. He forgets to look back on deep routes, he doesn’t really press receivers or get hands on at the line of scrimmage, he can lose his man across the middle if there’s even a little bit of traffic, good route runners gave him problems(Bama game when lined up on Williams and Metchie), and I felt like he got too aggressive on down the field passes. We could see McCreary getting flagged a lot for that in the pros and I’d even argue he got lucky a few times while in college that a flag wasn’t thrown. McCreary also isn’t much of a factor in the run game. Again in man coverage, it was really easy to run him out of the play. Even when he wasn’t being run out of the play it seemed like he tried to stay away and if the ball carrier was near him, it seemed like he would only partake if he absolutely had to(in the Bama game I saw him just watch his teammates tackle the ball carrier to the ground right in front of him). 

The first tape I watched of McCreary was the Alabama game, and by the end I had a lot of concerns about him. I felt like all his flaws were on display in that game in both the run and pass game. It seemed like Auburn played like 90% man in that game and McCreary just could not handle the likes of Williams and Metchie. However, McCreary started to look like a better cornerback again in games where their defense was gameplanned with more balance. McCreary can definitely handle some man coverage, but if you overplay man, I think McCreary will get picked on more often than not. If you can stay balanced though I think McCreary will be able to prove what he has as both a press and off-ball corner.

I compare McCreary  to Trevon not necessarily because I think he’ll have an 11 interception season, but more so because they compare in size and I feel like they are similar in play style. When watching Trevon Diggs I feel like he shows the ability to show a fair mix of skills in both man and zone coverage in a fairly balanced Cowboys defense, but with too much press man can show some of the same issues that McCreary shows. I think McCreary has the ability to read the field really well in off-ball coverage and zone, and exhibits similarities in the way he baits and jumps routes. The safest thing for McCreary like Diggs is to keep everything in front of him and try to come up and make a play rather than let the receiver get behind you.