Mississippi State's Benardrick McKinney at the NFL Combine

Benardrick McKinney has been mentioned by some as a player to keep an eye on as to the numbers he could put up at the combine because of his athleticism.  The linebacker, who many have projected as a first-round draft pick, could solidify his spot with a strong showing at the NFL Combine.

Bench Press: I'm not sure if any word other than disappointing can be used for McKinney's showing in the bench press.  The former Bulldog turned in 16 reps, which tied for the lowest mark with Colorado State's Aaron Davis. Twenty-four of the 33 participants in the bench press went over 20 reps with the 225-pound weight. The last inside linebacker at the combine to have a showing of less than 17 reps was Casey Matthews out of Oregon in 2011. Mississippi State's Chris White had 17 reps in that same combine.

Yes, McKinney has some of the longest arms in the position group, so the chances of him being at or near the top were slim. However, being at the bottom was unexpected.

Vertical Jump: McKinney proved to be one of the top linebackers in this area.  His 40.5 inches came in fourth best among all linebackers in that drill.

Broad Jump: McKinney also showed off as one of the top performing linebackers in the broad jump, especially when this is broken down into inside linebackers, where he would rank third.

40 yard dash: McKinney's time ranked eleventh among linebackers, but third overall among inside linebackers. While his time may have been a little slower than he wanted, no one ran extremely fast in Indianapolis.  I'd expect this time to increase at his pro day.  The biggest negative for McKinney in this event is that he had some runs over 4.7.