Strengths: 

  • Functional Strength

Alim McNeill is listed at 317 lbs and that is a somewhat bigger stature for an interior defensive lineman, and he plays that big too, having great functional strength. 

  • Good Explosiveness and Movement Skills

McNeill does a pretty good job overall carrying his weight and having some decent mobility. He will move around well and can penetrate far gaps because of his movement skills. He’s also pretty explosive out of his stance.

  • Understands Leverage

McNeill does a great job positioning himself and putting himself in position to make a play and gain the edge on offensive linemen. He also plays with great pad level which gives the leverage advantage to him as well.

  • Great Hand Usage

Alim McNeill does a phenomenal job with his hand usage placing them effectively on offensive lineman and when combined with his leverage advantage it makes for an effective bull rush.

  • Pass Rush Counters are There

Alim McNeill combines his bull rush with a few good counters that can be developed, giving him pass rushing upside in the NFL. His spin move looked pretty good and his swim and arm under moves were decent as well. With a little bit of development he’ll be a well rounded interior pass rusher.

Weaknesses: 

  • Slow Diagnosis on Blocks

Alim McNeill has below average processing and sometimes he’s very slow to read blocks coming his way which allows lineman to easily get a grip on him and nullify him in the run game.

  • Struggles to Disengage

His weakness of diagnosing blocks slowly is only magnified by his other weakness of not being able to consistently disengage, likely because of length, and this makes him ineffective on a lot of plays in the run game.

  • Conditioning Concerns

McNeill can look very good in pursuit of a player but oftentimes he cuts his pursuit short, maybe not because of effort but because of stamina issues. He’s also not on the field every snap so the likely issue is that he’s not well enough conditioned to be an every down player.

Player Comp: One of my favorite most slept on players in the entire NFL at any position is Folorunso Fatukasi of the Jets and McNeill reminds me of him quite a bit. Both guys are around 320 lbs with great functional strength as well as solid mobility and athleticism for their size. Both guys play with great leverage and positioning and in the pass rush both guys use their hands well and have a lot of moves, and for Fatukasi I think in the next year we’re really going to see him produce. Both guys may not be on the field every play and they also struggle to disengage as well as having some processing concerns but Fatukasi still finds a way to be effective in the rush and he still has the aforementioned pass rush ceiling. The only difference I clearly see is McNeill having significantly shorter arms than Fatukasi.

Final Thoughts: Alim McNeill is a guy that I like a decent amount for his position and his role but again I don’t think that his role has too much value. He’s not going to be on the field for more than 60% of snaps his first few years in the league and he’s an alright run defender who has pass rushing upside but in the past we’ve seen that it’s been hard to develop interior pass rushers. I like the player but I don’t see the value any time before the early 3rd round which puts me just around the consensus on McNeill. I like him best as a 1T so 4-3 DT is good but I think he’s solid at 0T as well so 3-4 NT is still fine. I think he could be a solid add to Seattle’s defensive line as they did unlock the pass rush potential of Jarran Reed, who’s now gone, and Al Woods isn’t exactly a dependable DT.