Scouts like “new” Jameel McClain

By Darrell Laurant  |   Wednesday, March 19, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Syracuse Orange
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The turnout at Syracuse University's Pro Day on March 18 said a lot about the Orange's 2007 season. Only a handful of teams sent representatives, including the Steelers, Patriots, Lions, Jets and Colts, and they were joined by scouts from the Arena Football League and the Canadian Football League.

What this meant was that a lot of football people missed an impressive display of speed by Orange DE/LB Jameel McClain.

Projected as a linebacker on the next level, McClain posted 40 times of 4.55 and 4.56, shaving two-tenths of a second off his efforts at the NFL Combine.

As a Syracuse junior, McClain produced 8.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss, and opposing offensive coordinators noticed. Rendered much less effective as teams a) ran away from him and b) double-teamed him on the line, he had only a single sack and six TFL in 2007. Late in the season, however, he began to double as a linebacker to make better use of his sideline to sideline speed, and that's where the pros see him.

At 6-1, 250 pounds, McClain evokes comparisons with another former Orange sackmaster, Dwight Freeney.

Wide receiver Taj Smith impressed the stopwatch clickers with a 4.39 -- also significantly quicker than his combine performance -- and DB's Joe Fields and Dowayne Davis ran 4.5's.

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