Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Watch: UCLA EDGE Takkarist McKinley
By Logan Bryson
Regardless of his rawness, McKinley is not a prospect I would advise passing over in the 2017 NFL Draft. He carries a special skill set and has the chance to develop into a dominant player at the next level.
With perhaps the best traits of any EDGE rusher in the upcoming draft, aside from maybe Myles Garrett, McKinley could certainly be a target for Pittsburgh in the latter half of the first round.
In terms of team fit, McKinley could form a formidable pass rushing duo across from Bud Dupree. In fact, Dupree was a similar prospect coming out of Kentucky. He was a very raw prospect who was highly inconsistent yet flashed special traits on tape.
Dupree looked outmatched at moments in his rookie season, but has appeared to improve dramatically in year 2 as he has helped throughout the Steelers Playoff run. This is a similar career trajectory as I would expect out of Takkarist McKinley.
To sum it up, McKinley is a prospect I would love to see in Pittsburgh. Let’s just hope his anticipated 4.4 in Indy and a monster Senior Bowl showing doesn’t take McKinley out of Pittsburgh’s range.