100 in 100: Rolando McClain (10 of 100)
by Drew Kerr on Jan 21, 2010 1:00 PM PST
in 100 in 100 (2010)
Email
Print
Rolando McClain is a name that we may be hearing for years to come on Sunday's. Recently Bay Area Sports Writer Matt Maiocco released a mock draft with us taking McClain with our 13th pick in the first round of the draft. While this selection seemed to have been split on both sides of wanting him and not wanting him, I personally had to disagree. McClain will be a special player at the next level, there's no doubt, but when you have an offense that sputtered as much as ours did in the '09 Season, I think that we need to patch up those holes first and foremost. I think it would be a mistake to ignore this major factor. He will most likely be selected before our pick in any case as I will predict at the bottom of the article.
The Junior linebacker emerged as the top linebacker in the country throughout the course of his collegiate career with several spectacular plays. Most recently he helped the Crimson Tide break the drought and win The National Championship Game; their first since 1992 where the Tide beat the Hurricanes.
McClain has all the tangibles one could ask for in a linebacker and some comparisons in style of play have been drawn to our own Patrick Willis. The Crimson Tide Linebacker has an uncanny ability to see the entire field on any given play. He can cover and he can come up and ring someone's bell against the rush. He will be one of the most dynamic players entering the draft this year bar-none.
Below, We'll take a look at some of the highlights, stats, and awards that McClain has racked up throughout his career...
As the video displays, and as you can see, McClain has a natural ability to sniff out the ball even if it's on the complete other side of the field. His ability to weave in and out of would-be blockers to get to the ball carrier is going to take him a long way in the National Football League. He is ready for the next level and he'll be an exciting player to follow.
AWARDS AND HONORS:
- 2007 Freshman All-SEC Selection
- 2008 Third Team AP All-American
- 2008 First Team All-SEC
- 2009 First Team AFCA All-American
- 2009 First Team All-SEC
- 2009 Dick Butkus Award Winner
- 2009 Jack Lambert Award Winner
- 2009 SEC Defensive Player of the Year
- 2009 Lott Trophy Finalist
- 2009 Lombardi Award Finalist
- 2009 First Team All-American
CAREER STATS:
| Stats Overview | Tackles | Misc | Interceptions | |||||||||||
| YEAR | TOT | SOLO | AST | SACK | STF | STFY | FF | BK | INT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | PD |
| 2007 | 74 | 36 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 20.0 | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | 91 | 45 | 46 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | 105 | 53 | 52 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 Regular Season Game Log | Tackles | Misc | Interceptions | |||||||||||||
| DATE | OPP | RESULT | TOT | SOLO | AST | SACK | STF | STFY | FF | BK | INT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | PD |
| 9/5 | @Virginia Tech | W 34-24 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9/12 | FIU | W 40-14 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9/19 | North Texas | W 53-7 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9/26 | Arkansas | W 35-7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10/3 | @Kentucky | W 38-20 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 21.0 | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 10/10 | @Mississippi | W 22-3 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10/17 | South Carolina | W 20-6 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10/24 | Tennessee | W 12-10 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11/7 | LSU | W 24-15 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11/14 | @Mississippi State | W 31-3 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11/21 | Chattanooga | W 45-0 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11/27 | @Auburn | W 26-21 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12/5 | Florida | W 32-13 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2009 Postseason Game Log | Tackles | Misc | Interceptions | |||||||||||||
| BOWL | OPP | RESULT | TOT | SOLO | AST | SACK | STF | STFY | FF | BK | INT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | PD |
| CITI BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME | Texas | W 37-21 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
SUMMARY AND PROJECTIONS:
Rolando McClain should go fairly high in the 2010 NFL Draft. Several teams in the top ten could take McClain but I don't think he would last past the 11th or 12th in the first round. It would take quite a bit of shuffling and unusual picks for McClain to fall to the 49ers sitting at the 13th pick. Again, just to reiterate what I said above, I don't believe he would fall to the Niners and if he did, I think that they would be well suited to trade the pick away to get more value from a team really salivating over the thoughts of having McClain on their rosters.
Possibilities -- Chiefs, Browns, Raiders, Jags, Broncos, Dolphins
For more 100 in 100 articles, please follow this link:
43 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I agree with you drew
getting to see them play a lot this year McClain got a lot of hype from the announcing crews and justifyably so.Even if he fell to us in the draft I’m still seeing Olineman first. He will be an impact on sundays but i don;t think it will be for a couple of years down the road.
He may make an immediate impact but there is a learning curve as I think you allude to. Either way, he will probably be good. We just need to amp up that offense that seems to be very stagnate at times
Tim Tebow = 1,432,219 season tickets next year. Who wouldn't pick him in the 1st round with those projections?
I can only justify taking him at 17
At 16/17 he is so far and away the BPA that its hard not to pick him. Even if he is there at 13 we have to go OL
Gimme 1 round!
by ItBurnzWhenIP on Jan 23, 2010 6:09 AM PST up reply actions
Meh
He’s good at shedding blocks and seems decent in coverage but judging from that video he tackles WAY, WAY too high and mostly with his arms. While he does wrap up it’s going to have to be something that he remedies in the NFL because if he plays with a center of gravity that high he’s going to get a rude awakening. That’s some bad leverage right there.
Granted I never really watched Bama play so it may just be that video but I wouldn’t go after him over a good OT
Tackling would be fixed on the 9ers
Really not so sure about other teams, but the 9ers linebackers spend a fair amount of time perfecting tackling.
I like how he flows well to the ball and gets his nose in there. Honestly if we got him and made him the heir to Spikes we could have the most explosive middle linebacker tandem ever.
And a not so good offensive line, a stagnate offense, and a less than stellar defensive secondary… I can’t bring myself to agree with a pick spent on McClain.
Tim Tebow = 1,432,219 season tickets next year. Who wouldn't pick him in the 1st round with those projections?
I can't...
… disagree with it, but I can certainly understand where people will gripe about it. The 49ers will be getting a good player with McClain, but he just won’t be at a position of “need.”
Yup
49ers Al Grito De Guerra!!! hahaha
by 49erSalvatrucha on Jan 21, 2010 6:48 PM PST up reply actions
Nope
Tim Tebow = 1,432,219 season tickets next year. Who wouldn't pick him in the 1st round with those projections?
I think that'd be too much to invest at the LB position.
Do we really need three 1st-rounders playing linebacker (Lawson, Willis and McClain if picked)? Maybe you can say the value isn’t there with Haden in the mid-teens, or with Spiller (though I think it would be) at one of the two spots (the other being OT). But if that’s the case, why not look at a trade back?
McClain truly looks like a stud, and it wouldn’t come totally out of left field for the Niners to look seriously at him (we all remember the Lance Briggs fiasco). But the consensus is that TED is not a position that you throw big money at—not when he’s coming out every time the Niners go with 6 DBs.
Jason Hill is turning the corner!
If people really believe in the BPA philosophy
then they can’t gripe about picking McClain if he’s there.
Yes Drew K, Tim Tebow will get picked in the first round.
the "best" in BPA is more complicated than people think though
It’s about as complicated as the “v” in mvp
Jason Hill is turning the corner!
I know
BPA is really BOOB (Best On Our Board), unless by some miracle a stud falls to us.
Yes Drew K, Tim Tebow will get picked in the first round.
One more thing:
I’ve never seen McClain make a tackle like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bM4sEmaFLQ
Never.
Of course not many people ever have, and you can’t teach instincts, and you can teach tackling, and all that, but still. You do that once, and running backs are thinking twice about dancing in the hole.
Jason Hill is turning the corner!
if he does well at the combine and whatnot
and he manages to last until our pick I think we’ll take him, just because he would likely be the best player on the board. But He’ll probably be long gone. While he would be a good fit, as he could learn behind Spikes for a year or two, we’re pretty close to being a playoff team right now and I would prefer we fill a more pressing hole.
A hearty thank you to Rich Aurilia for all the good memories, and to the Niners for finally getting the uni's (mostly) right.
That’s up for debate. Best player on the board could also be considered Spiller at that point in the draft. And we need offense quite a bit more than we need defense. It’s not too often that you see a high pick like that sit and learn behind a player for a couple years unless you’re talking maybe QB’s. Typically you want your high picks to step in and play right away. Since we currently have Spikes, I dont think it’s a high chance at all that the Niners take him even if he does fall.
Tim Tebow = 1,432,219 season tickets next year. Who wouldn't pick him in the 1st round with those projections?
good points
you’re probably right
A hearty thank you to Rich Aurilia for all the good memories, and to the Niners for finally getting the uni's (mostly) right.
I'm having an issue with this line of logic
Just saying the offense is sub par and defense is pretty good therefore draft offense isn’t a well thought out analysis.
The offense has struggled because it was missing one impact player on the offensive line and most of the starting offense is still young and in development. Most of the players on offense have several better years of playing football ahead of them.
The defense has several veteran and aging players at key positions. The team is going to need a LB, S, CB and probably an NT in the near future and it’s time to get some prospects in the queue.
Furthermore, Spiller isn’t going to have that huge of impact. He would taking carries away from the offense’s biggest impact player, Frank Gore. Plus, who is going to block for him? Until that hole is filled at RT, Chilo and the rest of that line are somewhat hampered in their own development cause it’s always a jail break at the right end.
Okay, I disagree with your logic and I don’t think it was well thought out either. But I am not going to get in to it. You have your opinion about it and I have mine.
Tim Tebow = 1,432,219 season tickets next year. Who wouldn't pick him in the 1st round with those projections?
also good point
it’s complicated!
A hearty thank you to Rich Aurilia for all the good memories, and to the Niners for finally getting the uni's (mostly) right.
I think there's a very high chance the 49ers select him
He projects as a McCloughan type of guy.
SEC player, coached by Nick Saban, great instincts, smart, loves football, good size, and good production.
Would I make the pick?
Probably not, but I’m not the one in charge.
What we've got here is a failure to communicate.
by SportsChicken on Jan 21, 2010 11:01 PM PST up reply actions
High chance?? Really?? Honestly?? You Believe that??
He’s not going to slip past 10. If he does he’ll have Parcell’s waiting to pull the trigger. I would say there is a very LOW chance that he falls when it is our turn to pick at 13. Some have him going as high as 5 to the Chiefs.
And I dont understand this, “He is or isn’t a Scot M type of guy”. From all the picks I have seen from him, it seems that he picks alot of different types of players. Not just one “type”.
Tim Tebow = 1,432,219 season tickets next year. Who wouldn't pick him in the 1st round with those projections?
You're going a little off the wall here.
Obviously chikmagnet meant that the chances were high the 49ers would take him IF HE WERE STILL ON THE BOARD at the time the 49ers pick.
Pay closer attention to McCloughans picks.
Remember Orakpo last year?
He was projected to go in the top 5, Aaron Maybin was drafted before him…
I wasn’t trying to say that there is a high chance he FALLS to the 49ers, I’m saying that if he does fall to the 49ers, there’s a high chance they’ll select him.
What we've got here is a failure to communicate.
by SportsChicken on Jan 22, 2010 11:11 AM PST up reply actions
I'm speechless
Not on how good but how bad of a player he looked on that tape. He didn’t do anything I like a LB prospect to do. He couldn’t deliver a thud hit, in fact his technique is awful and the ball carrier almost always drove him backwards. He would shuffle and try to stand on his toes attempting to look over the line the entire time, instead of reacting and running down hill. I wasn’t even that impressed with his ability to shed blockers, he shed a few because the play was over and other times he could have just stepped away from the blocker instead of engaging because the blocker was coming in on an awful angle.
I’m not sure what the hype is about. He looked like a pile jumper to me. The rest of the defense would make the play and he’d jump on the pile at the end. I’d be pissed if the 49ers drafted this guy, I’m not seeing it.
I watched him all season unfortuneately
The guy really is can’t miss I don’t know what the tape is on him. He never takes a bad step on a read is great in coverage and makes plays in the backfield. Guy has pro bowler written all over him. FOR A TEAM THAT NEEDS A MIDDLE LINEBACKER. Not the Niners. Out of 300 running plays P Willy can make 170 tackles and the rest get cleaned up by everybody else. You put McClain over here all it will do is be 200 tackles split between McClain and Willis and cut Willis’ production in half.
Gimme 1 round!
by ItBurnzWhenIP on Jan 23, 2010 6:16 AM PST up reply actions
Take a bad step?
He never manged to take a single step. He constantly shuffles his feet not knowing where to go. I think the defensive line of Alabama ought be given the credit.
i'd be real cautious with over-hyping this guy
Many have already made the points—-all in all I think he has a great chance of being the next pseudoWillis. Teams are craving what we have already (whatchyou talking about? Willis! ) A real, physical, fast as lightning linebacker that hits like a Mack truck in overdrive.
This guy McClain guy may be good in the future, but his technique has got a loooonnnnngggg way to go, because he will get gored in the NFL tackling waist up. (pun intended)
I see him at best being a solid derek smith type of player—steady but not spectacular—unless he makes a great jump in the right situation. Don’t think that is our situation. Remember we have Scott Mckillop we drafted and he’s faring mighty nicely on ST and may get ready enough to actually play some when the time comes—
Consensus: if available, trade down to a linebacker hungry team and pick up a Strong Safety with nfl speed, ball defense tackling ability & maybe another cb or special teams stud with a later round pick.
McClain
If he is there at 13, we should take him in a heartbeat..To have he and Pwilly together would be awesome..He will be one of the three best players in this draft..
His coach said he was the smartest and most instinctual LB he has ever coached in college..He has all of the skills to be a pro bowl player..
Parcells won’t let this guy get past him, but if he is there, grab him..
Right Tackle
Right tackles are available in the second round and beyond..I am not saying that we shouldn’t take one in the first round, but if Spiller or McClain is there at 13, it will be tough to pass on them..Frank isn’t getting any younger and Coffee doesn’t have the elusiveness to scare anyone..
Running isn't all about elusiveness.
And when your RT is singlehandedly keeping you out of the playoffs, you pick a new one as soon as you can.
What we've got here is a failure to communicate.
by SportsChicken on Jan 22, 2010 11:14 AM PST up reply actions
You're missing his point, though.
He’s not saying that RT isn’t an important need. He’s just expressing the belief that RT’s can be had in the second round. The 49ers don’t need a RT that can be a good LT if need be. They just need a good RT. The skillsets for the two players are pretty different, and most tackles taken in the first round are expected to play LT (except the ones toward the end of the round). An NFL RT, at least based on my perception, is basically an OT that doesn’t have the mobility/agility to play LT, where he is often on an island. At RT, he gets a little help from the TE (as that is generally the strong-side of the formation), even if the TE isn’t staying in the block, as it forces the DE on that side to take a different path than a DE on the LT’s side would normally take.
I’m not saying the 49ers don’t need a RT, and I’m sure the Sear isn’t saying it, either. There are just different schools of though on what a RT should be. Some people believe RTs and LTs are somewhat interchangeable and that it shouldn’t matter where the player was drafted. However, there is also the group of people who believe that because of the somewhat reduced skillset required for RT, a good RT can be had in the second and maybe even the third round.
2nd and 3rd round RTs
See, that’s what bothers me.
What if those guys aren’t even as good as Snyder?
Maybe it’s because I’m so sick of seeing nothing but a turnstile on the right side of the O-line.
The Jets have spent 1st round picks on 4 of the 5 O-line positions (the RG, I believe was an UDFA)….I want what they have.
What we've got here is a failure to communicate.
by SportsChicken on Jan 22, 2010 12:56 PM PST up reply actions
Technically...
… the Jets only spent first rounders on two of their five starting linemen.
LT: Ferguson: Drafted 1.4 in 2006
LG: Faneca: Signed as a UFA in 2008
C: Mangold: Drafted 1.29 in 2006
RG: Moore: Originally signed as an UDFA in 2002 by Jets, cut and re-signed by Jets in 2009
RT: Woody: Signed as UFA in 2008
Looks to me that two key cogs on that line were bought, with the other two keys being drafted.
I get your point, though.
I’m sick of the revolving door, too. I just don’t think that taking a tackle in the top 15 to play RT is necessarily the best way to use that pick. Basically, I’m not going to complain if they did go OT, but I’d certainly understand it if they didn’t.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Niners Nation
Related FanShots on Niners Nation
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
