When the Eagles lost to the Buccaneers on Monday, January 15, in a 32-9 blowout, it was a disappointing end to a season with the highest of expectations.
Part of the team’s struggles had to do with injuries throughout the year that depleted the defense. Linebacker Zach Cunningham, LB Nakobe Dean, CB Darius Slay, CB James Bradberry, S Sydney Brown and S Reed Blankenship all missed games or went out for the season.
There was a highly irregular midseason coaching change on the defensive front as well when Sean Desai was relieved of his duties so Matt Patricia could take over play-calling.
All things considered, it would make total sense for GM Howie Roseman, head coach Nick Sirianni, and the rest of the management to go with a defensive prospect in the first round of the draft.
And that’s exactly what CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso had in mind in his January 18 NFL mock draft, projecting Alabama star cornerback “Kool-Aid” McKinstry to the Eagles.
Kool-Aid McKinstry Could Be Exactly What Eagles Defense Needs to Build Toward the Future
According to NFLDraftBuzz.com, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound cornerback “Ga’Quincy McKinstry, or “Kool-Aid” to most folks, made a name for himself in high school at Pinson Valley.
With a 4-star recruit rating from ESPN and a 5-star from 247 Sports, he scored 13 total touchdowns in his senior season. These feats didn’t go unnoticed, earning him the Alabama’s Mr. Football title and Defensive Player of the Year by USA Today.”
NFLDraftBuzz.com’s profile for the young cornerback goes on to say, “In his freshman year, 2021, he played in 11 games and took 479 snaps at cornerback. His stats: 10 tackles, 13 assists, 3 stops, 1 pass breakup, and an interception, with a QB rating of 79.7 when he was targeted.
In 2022, McKinstry upped his game in his sophomore year, playing in 12 games and totaling 794 snaps. He recorded 29 tackles, 6 assists, 7 stops, 13 pass breakups, and another interception. Also, the QB rating when throwing his way dropped to 59.0, showing his defensive growth.”
McKinstry Is Ready for the NFL, the Question Is Will He Fall to the Eagles?
Kyle Crabbs of Athlon Sports wrote in his prospect profile that, “McKinstry has played on the outside for the Tide and often gets overlooked in progressions, at times seemingly baiting quarterbacks to try throws on low percentage routes. The ball skills are effective, and his basketball pedigree comes in useful when he needs to challenge the ball in flight.
“I appreciate McKinstry’s skills best in soft press right now, but I do think this is a player who can play effective tight press or, alternatively, operate in a zone-match-heavy system as an outside corner. You know Saban and his defensive backs; they’re usually well-seasoned with the full gambit of coverage exposures.”
Prospect profiles don’t just talk about the positives. They list negatives as well like how McKinstry “likes to play a physical brand of football” and how he can be overactive down the field, leaving his hand-fighting open to interpretation by officials.
A similar critique was on NFLDraftBuzz.com’s profile as well.
Still, as it stands in January, it seems that Eagles’ brass should be excited to get such a prospect at the 22nd pick of the draft. Several mock drafts so far, like one from Sports Illustrated, has McKinistry going earlier in the first. The good news is most mocks have four to even six cornerbacks going in the first round, so chances are high that if the Eagles want to bolster their secondary, they’ll be able to in this 2024 draft.
