Finding Broncos: Scouting Michigan LB Cameron McGrone
Welcome to Finding Broncos, our annual prospect-by-prospect series deep-diving on the coming NFL draft class. The scouting continues with Michigan linebacker Cameron McGrone, a talented prospect but can he fit with the Denver Broncos?
Measurables
- Height: 6-foot-0
- Weight: 234 pounds
Pro Day Results
- Hands: 9-2/8 inches
- Wingspan: 77-4/8 inches
- Arm Length: 32-1/8 inches
Stats
Sports-Reference.com
Pros
- Excellent blitzer
- Position versatility
- Great read-and-react player
- Scrapes well
- Clean tackler
- High upside as a coverage linebacker
- Hits landmarks with ease
- Solid recovery and closing speed
- Fluid enough in man coverage
- Gap integrity and assignment-sound player
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Cons
- Torn ACL vs. Rutgers ended his 2020 season
- Over-aggressiveness tends to get him out of position at times
- Doesn’t disengage well
- Needs to add some bulk
- Poor pursuit angles at times
- Not a thumper, but physical enough
- Needs to develop counter moves as a pass rusher off the edge
- Can get lost in zone coverage
Overview
An aggressive linebacker with a physical mindset that does his best work coming downhill, McGrone has a versatile skill-set that a lot of teams are going to find intriguing. Michigan used McGrone in a multitude of different ways, including as a pass rusher off the edge and in man and zone coverages.
McGrone does nicely shooting gaps in the running game and scraping through the trash. His best skill-set is his closing speed when he identifies what is going on in front of him, but his overaggressive mindset will get him out of position at times and leave running lanes open in the area he vacated.
Most of the time, McGrone has good gap integrity and sticks to his assignments, but there are times that he misreads the play and attacks the wrong gap as well. In coverage, McGrone has enough athleticism to hang in man coverage against tight ends and running backs out of the backfield, but there are times that he can get lost in zone coverage and allow massive chunks of separation.
His hips are a little stiff as well, and he is much better in turn-and-run situations than in a true backpedal where he has to click and close on the ball. One of his biggest flaws is that while he has a physical and aggressive mindset, he lacks the true size to be a physical thumper in the running game.
McGrone comes downhill hard and sets up well, but he lacks some pop as a tackler in space and doesn’t separate from blocks well when a lineman gets his hands on him. Adding about 10 pounds to his frame will definitely help there. He also needs to work on some hand fighting techniques at the next level, but there is a solid foundation and mental makeup to start with.
Fit with Broncos
With coverage ability being a big key for linebackers in Vic Fangio’s defense, McGrone makes some sense. His versatile skill-set translates well and when Fangio dials up pressure schemes, he often brings his linebackers in the A gaps. That’s where McGrone is at his best, and he’s more than likely an upgrade over Josey Jewell in coverage with higher athletic upside.
If the Broncos can get McGrone in the fourth or fifth round and the medical checks are clean, he'd make a lot of sense for Denver. The need is there to improve the depth and possibly upgrade over Jewell, and McGrone has enough upside to be that kind of a player in this defense.
Grade: Round 3
Where he Goes: Round 3
Follow Lance on Twitter @SandersonMHH.
Follow Mile High Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.
Subscribe to Mile High Huddle on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!
