Prospect Profile: CB/WR Cormani McClain
Cormani McClain
Cormani McClain
Brian Smith, Inside The Knights
Size: 6’2”, 175-pounds
Position: Cornerback/Wide Receiver
High School: Lakeland (Fla.) Lake Gibson
Class: 2023
Recruitment
With offers from across the country, there really are very few top programs that have not offered the talented McClain. Ohio State, UCF, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Arkansas, Kentucky, Penn State, Auburn, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and South Carolina are just some of his offers.
Prospect Evaluation
One would be hard pressed to find a prospect that’s more “toolsy” than McClain. As fluid as any cornerback in the country with his backpedal and hip turn, he’s also naturally lean, muscular, and possesses extremely long arms. What he does with those tools, and at what position he uses them, are both intriguing.
His backpedal-to-charge-forward is rivaled only by a few cornerbacks in the country and he’s also instinctive about doing it. McClain rarely gets beat over the top because he does not fall for double moves like many other cornerbacks. Even when he’s beat by a receiver, it’s not necessarily a situation where there will be a completion either.
Length. That cannot be taught. McClain has it. He swats away passes that other defensive backs do not reach even if they read the play even better than McClain would. That’s probably frustrating for other players, but McClain’s recovery abilities start with his long arms. Then it’s about quickness and speed.
He can cover ground like few other players. To understand his game speed, one needs to literally see McClain play live. Film is helpful, but seeing McClain live is the true definition of understanding game speed and why certain players look different on a television screen in one’s living room. That’s where instincts come into play.
As good at tracking the football as any cornerback in the country, McClain often baits quarterbacks into throwing the football. Once the football releases from the signal caller’s hand, McClain breaks towards the spot the receiver thinks there’s a chance for a catch. McClain wrecks those plans with regularity.
McClain was thrusted into playing cornerback as a sophomore and was immediately one of the best cornerbacks in Florida without ever going through the full preparation of being a cornerback. He’s still learning, as scary as that may be, and his ceiling at cornerback is hard to cap. On the other side of the football, his same skills translate quite well.
If an offense likes to throw jump balls, McClain is a great target. He pinpoints when, where and how to create an advantage for himself whenever it’s a so-called 50-50 ball. With McClain, it’s more like 80-20 in his favor. He does not lose many of those battles. He also runs by defenders as one would expect. After the catch, he’s as shifty as many 5’9” receivers despite McClain being very long at the hip; most players with McClain’s height simply cannot stop-and-start like him.
The only question, in the end, would be which position does McClain play in college? It’s harder to find cornerbacks, but McClain is quite partial to playing wide receiver as well. He will excel at either. That much is all but guaranteed.
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