Bucs Nation
Another potential target for Buccaneers secondary reinforcements.
If the Buccaneers plan to aim for a high-level talent to inject into their newly opened outside corner competition, this is a good draft to invest in afirst-rounder at the position.
If Tampa wants someone polished and as ready as possible to contribute, they won’t find too many other options in their first-round range better than Kool-Aid McKinstry.
Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry earned 5-star honors as a recruit thanks to his prolific high school career, which saw it culminate in him being named Alabama’s Mr. Football and USA Today’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2020.
He ranked 18th overall nationally and sixth amongst defensive players, and he even attempted to be a dual-sport athlete thanks to his similarly impressive accolades in basketball (1,000-point career scorer).
He committed full-time to football though and flourished almost immediately. He started 6 games as a true freshman, collecting 25 tackles, 2 passes defensed, and an interception en route to earning Freshman All-SEC.
He jumped up a notch his sophomore year, starting all 13 games and leading the SEC in passes defensed with 16. His efforts garned second-team All-American honors and first-team All-SEC.
In 2023, he bumped further upward with first-team All-American to match his second-consecutive first-team All-SEC nod (32 tackles, 7 passes defensed).
McKinstry produced some very solid testing numbers between the NFL Combine and Alabama Pro Day despite recovering from a right foot injury.
He got favorable measurables at the combine, measuring 5-foot-11, 199 pounds with 32” arms. He recovered enough from a Jones Fracture to participate more in the Alabama Pro Day on March 20, as he ran a strong 4.47 40-yard dash (2.72 20-yard split, 1.44 10-yard). He also jumped 34 1/2” in the vertical and 10’1” in the broad jump. He was not feeling good enough to do agility drills though (no 3-cone or short shuttle), though that’s understandable since he got surgery immediately after the Pro Day.
Despite only a slightly above-average Relative Athletic Score, McKinstry should be applauded for testing despite a serious foot injury. He’d likely test better with a cleaner bill of health.
McKinstry did meet with the Buccaneers on a top 30 visit earlier in April, per Jordan Schultz.
McKinstry is arguably the most polished cornerback in the draft this year from a pure technique and football IQ perspective. He’s patient, analytical, and well-refined in his backpedal and overall body control.
It’s honestly not really a competition between him and someone like Zyon McCollum — McKinstry is already a more polished cover man who should get first-dibs on outside starting opportunities opposite Jamel Dean.
He’s already intelligent in the use of his long arms to disrupt throwing lanes without getting too handsy (he didn’t commit a single penalty in 14 starts last year), and he doesn’t bite on many double moves either.
He’s not the most sudden...
