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Bryant McKinnie
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INDIANAPOLIS — He stands 6-foot-8 and tips the scale at better than 340 pounds;
combined with unfathomable athletic ability and quick feet, all that is adding up to equal
a top-five projected draft position for Bryant "Mount" McKinnie. Considered raw
by some — McKinnie has just six years of organized football experience — most
teams don’t feel the mammoth offensive tackle has reached his potential.
Q: Did you work out today, the normal test and timing drills?
A: The only thing I did were the offensive line drills. I’m going to work out for
teams March 7, the pro timing day down at Miami. That is a tradition at Miami. It exposes
some of the players that didn’t get invited here. I have confidence that I’m
going to perform well, but (NFL teams) know what I’m capable of.
Q: What is the team that drafts Bryant McKinnie getting?
A: A complete player, yet one that is still growing. My body is still going to mature,
and I’m going to learn the game. I can play well the run and pass. I represent
whatever team well, on and off the field.
Q: Which teams have you met with here in Indianapolis?
A: Detroit and Carolina were the first two (Carolina owns the No. 2 pick and Detroit
picks third). I think they both went well. Carolina seemed interested. I met with the
Browns, but that wasn’t really an interview, it was just those guys are family. I
know them, they know me. Coach (Butch) Davis was down in Miami. Pete Garcia, the
Browns’ personnel director, he recruited me at Miami. They know me.
Q: What is it like to go into this draft as possibly the top pick, but
definitely one of the early first-round picks?
A: I like the challenge. We work hard down there. I’m ready for it. As a football
player, I don’t feel threatened. They have seen me play the last two years. Like I
said, they know what I can do.
Q: What do you do well, and what needs improvement?
A: I pass-block and run-block well. I’ll leave it up to the team that drafts me to
tell me what I don’t do well in minicamp.
Q: How many guys from Miami (Fla.) will go in the first round?
A: I’m going to say five. We’re trying to break a record. Last year was four;
we want to get five.
Q: What will you run the 40 in?
A: Five (seconds) or better.
Q: How much pressure did you put on yourself that you’ve never given up a
sack?
A: That is something that I don’t think about; it’s just learned in me. My
junior-college coach told me, "Move your feet, can’t be beat." Hal McElroy
taught me that.
Q: What happens when you do finally give up a sack?
A: We’ve got a motto at Miami: FIDO — Forget about It and Drive On.
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