McCune's stats

No doubt physically the guy is very impressive, let's hope his mental game is up to par as well.

my father was in the military for 22 years and i can tell you,,, 95% of it is mental toughness. not to mention all kinds of free classes. this guy should be the real thing being in that kind of shape to go along with his mental aspect of being in the army and actually going over seas.

the knock on him by all the experts of why he went in the 5th round was his age at 26. he is in his prime now and thats why i would like him to play very soon.

hes got a great coach in greg williams. I look forward to seeing this guys progression. What made him a late round draft pick with physical stats like that. Anyone have his draft bio?

Robert McCune
ILB (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft05/tracker/position?id=90) | (6'0", 245, 4.5) | LOUISVILLE (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft05/tracker/school?id=2249)

Scouts Grade: 59

Flags: (A: AGE) Player may be older or younger than usualhttp://espn-att.starwave.com/i/teamlogos/nfl/sml/trans/was.gif (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=was) Selected by: Washington Redskins
Round: 5
Pick (Overall): 18(154) View by: Round (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft05/tracker/round) | Player (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft05/tracker/players) | NCAA School (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft05/tracker/school) | Position (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft05/tracker/position) | NFL Team (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft05/tracker/team) | Flag (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft05/tracker/alert)http://espn-att.starwave.com/i/in.gif | All Ranked Players (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft05/tracker/rankedPlayers)http://espn-att.starwave.com/i/in.gif | NFL Draft History (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft05/tracker/histround?year=2004) You are signed into Insider http://espn.starwave.com/i/in.gif and have access to the exclusive draft content below.
Strengths: Has an exceptional combination of size, strength and straight-line speed. Is powerful at the POA and shows the ability to take on blocks in the phone booth if he plays with better technique. Has great range and closing burst versus the run. Is an explosive tackler that closes quickly and shows very good short area power. Fills hard versus the run. Has great speed when he gets a clear lane to the quarterback as a blitzer. Also has adequate range in zone coverage and the speed to run with most backs downfield.

Weaknesses: Is still not as fundamentally sound as he needs to be. He plays too high at times and needs to show better leverage and consistency when it comes to taking on blocks in the phone booth. He must also learn to use his hands better to shed. At times he will take too long to diagnose a play. He gets away with it at the C-USA level because of his speed but he needs to make quicker reads and react faster. Too many arm tackles. Needs to do a better job of breaking down and wrapping up. He has elite speed but his hips are a little bit stiff and he doesn't have great man-to-man cover skills. He has potential in zone coverage but he needs to take fewer false steps versus play-action. He does a good job of knocking passes down in his zone, but his ball skills are below average.

Overall: McCune redshirted in 2000 and saw action only as a backup from 2001-'02 before taking over as Louisville's fulltime starting middle linebacker as a junior in 2003, when he finished with 143 total tackles, five TFL and four sacks. He started all 12 games (ILB and OLB) as a senior in 2004 and led the team with 115 total tackles, including four for loss, two sacks and one interception. A member of the National Guard; spent six months in Kuwait and a full year in Korea. He will be a 26-year old rookie in the NFL. McCune was much improved as a senior and his upside is extremely intriguing because of his rare combination of size (6-0, 245), strength (33 reps of 225-pound bench press) and speed (4.50). However, McCune is a much more attractive prospect when watching him work out in shorts than he is when studying him in pads on film. He has great top-end speed for his size but he plays stiff and he has lots of limitations in terms of his range versus the run and in coverage, as a result. Furthermore, he still lacks ideal technique and recognition skills, which leads to inconsistent play. In our opinion, McCune is worth the gamble in the fourth-to-fifth round range of the upcoming draft but anywhere earlier than that would be a classic case of getting caught up in McCune as a "workout warrior", not a football player.

Personally, I love the guy already and can't wait to see him develope under Williams. He's a monster of an athelete and a guy with his character will work himself to the bone getting mentally prepared for every game. I don't think he'll be ready to start for us right away, but I'm hoping by mid- to late-season he'll be our #1 MLB.

I doubt he'll play this year, but if he comes along quick, I'd love to see him on the field!

Perhaps one advantage McCune -- a corporal -- has over other rookies is not being intimidated by Williams's military-style approach. "It's really kind of comical," Williams said, "[to think] that I can put more stress [on him] than he's been under."

I think that this aspect will also help him get a grip on the shcem of things, he wont be stressed out as much...

The question is how does all his physical prowess translate to the football field, Brock Lesner is a physical freak and what is he doing these day's? McCune has everything you want off the field it's his on the field abilities that concern me.

4.51 40 but close enough :) thats still faster than some recievers. This guy is a beast and I can't wait to see him play.


CAMPUS: 4.41 in the 40-yard dash … 535-pound bench press … 565-pound squat … 338-pound power clean … 33-inch vertical jump … 30 ¾-inch arm length … 9-inch hands … Right-handed … 16/34 Wonderlic score.

this is what sportsline had so maybe it is true

Just curious - how is Williams style military. He tells them coming in you're all the same. That's a far cry from the military where you're shit when you come in (unless of course you came from ROTC -> College route and come in as an officer).

Even if he doesn't start right away, he'll be a beast on wheels for the special teams. I look for that unit to be pretty damn tough this year.