Roger McCreary vs Ole Miss: Game Breakdown

As a three-star cornerback, McCreary opted to stay in his home state and further his academic and football career at Auburn university. Roger saw action even as a true freshmen, playing in 4 games amassing 5 tackles and a pass break up. He returned as a sophomore the next year and began what would be three straight years of starting at a high level for the Tigers.

His sophomore year he racked up 36 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 pick, and 9 pass break ups against SEC competition. Then he came back the following year with 45 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 3 picks, and 6 pass break ups demonstrating a more complete game. He hasn’t slowed down this year, posting a 42/2/2/10 stat line with a sack through just 11 games. On top of those impressive numbers, he’s currently graded as the best CB in college football per PFF, earned an invite to the Senior Bowl, and has continued to rise up draft draft rankings.

Enough background information, lets watch some film…

For the first clip we have McCreary defending an inside release 15 yard curl route out of a press alignment. Once the WR declares the inside speed release, McCreary is able to open his hips and burst out of his stance with ease and efficiency. When he’s opened up, he gets hands on the WR and fights to get to over the top of the route while remaining tight to the WR. It looks like he does a good job of reading the WR down and using his contact to feel the route develop. He caps off the rep with a nice and clean break at the top of the route.

Roger is again working out of that same press alignment, this time defending an outside release (small) stutter go. Off the LOS, he demonstrates excellent patience and remains square. He handles the WR’s stutter like it’s nothing, thanks to his ability to start/stop and read the WR down. As I’ll point out numerous times throughout this article, he finishes by winning over the top of the route and avoiding getting stacked.

On this rep we get to see one of my favorite parts of McCreary’s game: his off man coverage. Working out of an 8x1 (8 yards off, 1 yard inside) alignment, he’s defending a deep post in what looks like some variation of Cover 3. McCreary is smooth and patient in his pedal while maintaining his inside leverage. Once the WR gets to about 8–10 yards, he opens up and again fights for the vertical position. The WR breaks the route back inside while McCreary is working upfield and has hips flipped, which doesn’t sound like a good position to be in unless you can execute a perfect speed turn.

Another rep of 8x1 inside leverage single high off-man, but this time McCreary is breaking on a curl underneath. I love his eyes on this play, he’s locked on the WR until the break then he progresses back towards the QB to find the ball as he drives on the route. Speaking of drive, he gets a nice clean break out of his pedal that likely would have netted him a PBU had the TE not tipped the ball.

I’ve included this play as it’s probably the best example I’ve seen so far of how good McCreary is at maintaining his leverage and it shows some football intelligence. The WR is aligned about a yard from the sideline, which allows Roger to work in a slight diagonal line towards the middle of the field since the WR has limited real estate to the boundary. At the top of the route, McCreary is still over the top (and short of the sticks), with inside leverage, and a little less than a yard of separation. As pointed out in the clip before, his eyes are great on this rep as well, to the WR through the break.

More off man teach tape from McCreary, here against a little hesi fade double move. His patience and understanding of leverage is again on display as he remains square until the WR widens his stem, then he turns and secures over the top. He handles the WR’s hesitation well, he remains patient, shifts his weight slightly forward to speed up his potential break, and violently explodes once the WR continues attacking vertically.

This might be my favorite rep of McCreary’s so far, there’s just nothing mediocre, let alone average, on this play. He’s working out of that press alignment playing motor or inch technique against an elaborate half step release fade in the redzone. As the WR gets into his release, Roger is taking inch or motor steps backward while remaining square and patient. Once the WR declares his direction (outside), McCreary plants, opens up, and gets out of there. He takes his left hand and it looks like he swipes the WR’s hand off of him, which combined with his intense physical presence on this route, effectively protects himself from any back shoulder throw. Also worth pointing out how McCreary squeezed the route, beat the WR to the spot, and whipped his head around to find the ball if it were thrown.

I take back what I said earlier, this *might* be my favorite play from McCreary’s Ole Miss tape. Press alignment defending an inside release slant, he demonstrates his physicality a couple times this rep. The first comes just before the break when McCreary gets initial contact in the form of a right hand stab to the shoulder area, next he gets both hands on as the WR gets into his break, and finally he gets his upfield arm on the hip while he makes a play on the ball. His excellent closing burst and solid play strength also caught my attention.

Another rep of off man, defending a 15 yard curl. Lots to like about this rep, but I’ll address the biggest “wrong” that people will likely have… the finish. It looks bad at first glance, he played the ball poorly and then missed the tackle but there’s more to it than that. He played the ball like that because he was probably expecting the throw to be back shoulder, so he broke towards the WR’s boundary shoulder. This played into him missing the tackle, his momentum was going the opposite direction and he had to try hanging onto the WR just to stop himself. Outside of that, his patience is again excellent making it 6 steps into his pedal before he opens up. His break is quick and efficient, and he drives on the route impressively fast even if it’s to the wrong place.

Back to that press alignment, McCreary is defending another hesi fade and he handles is just as well as the previous one. Off the LOS, there’s no false steps as he mirrors the first step of the WR before opening up and going. He reacts to the hesitation perfectly, demonstrating his ability to start/stop and read the WR. As I’ve pointed out on the majority of the reps in this article, McCreary again fights to avoid getting stacked vertically.

McCreary is again playing inch/motor technique out of a press alignment defending a hilariously-complicated release. McCreary mirrors the WR with fast, short motor steps while remaining square. Once the WR gives a hard fake inside, McCreary opens and tries to connect a jab with his outside hand, which misses. Despite the miss, he’s able to recover really well through his smooth hips and ability to stay collected.

Playing some form of cover 3 in the redzone, McCreary does a great job of working his zone. When the #1 WR turns upfield after his initial inside release, McCreary gets depth in his drop and relates to the WR as the WR runs the corner route. When a new threat enters his zone, the #1 from the opposite side on a crosser, he uses his peripheral vision to spot him, then he covers him.

More of that patented physicality, defending another fade out of a press alignment, this time on a crucial 4th down play. McCreary does a great job squeezing the route, showing off his play strength, and getting his head around.

Final Thoughts

There’s a lot to like about McCreary’s game, from his intangibles to his physical traits to his technique. His eyes look good, he maintains his leverage well, he’s uber-physical, he’s patient, he’s got the size/speed/quickness, good hips, good ball skills, etc. He is no doubt a top corner in this class, a top prospect in this class, and I’d be shocked if he’s not a future first round pick.