Cameron McGrone is 6’1 236 and he projects to be a quicker and smaller linebacker who doesn’t process things quickly. He projects much better as a 3-4 ILB then any linebacker position in the 4-3 system. If he were to play in a 4-3 his best fit is as a SAM linebacker. He projects to be better in zone but not bad in man either. 

Strengths: 

  • Good Movement Skills

Linebackers who are smaller guys like McGrone should have solid movement skills to be good at the next level and McGrone certainly has that. He has solid long speed and good change of direction ability and short area quickness.

  • Solid Blitzer

Cameron McGrone operated in a blitz heavy system the last couple of years with Don Brown in Michigan and he showed potential as a blitzer. He has great bend and solid speed to power conversion. 

  • Finishes Most Tackles

For the most part when it’s just Cameron McGrone and a ball carrier he will use proper technique to wrap up and tackle.

  • Great in Zone Coverage

McGrone took quite a few snaps in zone coverage in Michigan and he looked better equipped to play man then zone. He understands his zone, can turn and run well, and closes on underneath routes fast.

  • High Effort

Cameron McGrone is a high effort player who hussles all the time. He’s constantly in pursuit and has the speed to make plays.

  • Tough Player

McGrone isn’t the biggest linebacker but he hits pretty hard, is not afraid to line up over guards on the LOS, and he played with a cast on his hand in the 2020 season.  

Weaknesses: 

  • Can’t Disengage in Blocks

Once a blocker gets engaged onto Cameron McGrone it usually takes him longer than most to get off blocks. His arm usage and play strength probably causes this.

  • Slow Processor

Cameron McGrone is one of the slowest processing linebackers in this class, although he has played just 15 games at the collegiate level. He is not good at reading and reacting whatsoever and slow processing magnifies his weakness of struggling to shed blocks.

  • Easily Fooled by Fakes/Terrible Instincts

McGrone is an over aggressive linebacker and he bites on almost every fake. If he were to just guess he’d have a 50% chance of going the right way on each play but for McGrone the number seems lower than that. He should not trust his instincts as they are often wrong and take him out of plays.

  • Not Good in Traffic

When going from one side of the field to the other McGrone has the speed to get there but he doesn’t acknowledge blockers and often runs right into players because he’s so fixated on the ball carrier.

  • Takes Bad Angles

McGrone is over aggressive and he runs himself out of plays too many times because of the angle he takes.

Player Comp: When watching Cameron McGrone he reminds me a lot of now Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke who came out just two years ago. He has a similar frame with them being the same height and around 5 lbs apart. They both have decent long speed, with solid quickness, and average burst. They were both overaggressive, with slow processing and bad instincts which got them into trouble. The only major difference I see could be that despite them both being bad at block shedding coming out, Okereke has extremely long arms which helped him improve in the pros, a jump I don’t think McGrone will make.

Final Thoughts: I feel like I’m a bit lower than others on Cameron McGrone because I have him pegged in the late 3rd range when a lot of other people I see have him around the late round 2 to early round 3 range. He’s a good player but he has a lot of issues to fix mentally and he doesn’t have an elite size/speed combination to make up for it. If he’s going to be successful it’s likely in a 3-4 as an ILB, and one spot where he could do that is the Chargers, where he can play in Brandon Staley’s 3-4 zone next to Kenneth Murray where they could mask each other’s weaknesses.