Advertisement
football Edit

Where will NC State's Alim McNeill get picked in the NFL Draft?

NC State junior nose tackle Alim McNeill chose to enter the NFL Draft early after his All-American season last fall, and next week he should know where he is headed.

There is little question that McNeill will get chosen but some debate about when. The consensus emerging, however, is that McNeill will be hearing his name called in the third round.

If so, that would mean McNeill would be a second-day selection. The draft gets underway in Cleveland on Thursday, April 29 with the first round. A day later are the second and third rounds, with the final four rounds being completed Saturday.

NC State Wolfpack football defensive lineman Alim McNeill
Conventional wisdom suggests that McNeill will be picked in the third round. (Ethan Hyman/News & Observer)
Advertisement

One of the most bullish on McNeill is DJ Boyer of Rotoballer.com, who has the Carolina Panthers picking McNeill with the ninth choice of the third round and No. 73 overall. The Panthers have never drafted a NC State player in its franchise history.

Drafttek.com has McNeill going to the Philadelphia Eagles with the 20th pick of the third round, selection No. 84 overall. Dane Brugler of The Athletic has McNeill going five picks later in the third round and No. 89 overall to the Cleveland Browns. Ryan White of CBS Sports has McNeill being picked a few spots below that at No. 93 overall to the Buffalo Bills.

Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer is an outlier and has McNeill waiting till the final day of the draft to get selected by the Dallas Cowboys with a compensatory pick near the end of the fourth round at No. 138 overall.

ESPN draft gurus Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay also participated in a mock draft of how they would choose picks for the first three rounds, and neither chose McNeill.

Pro Football Focus believes that McNeill should probably be a second-round pick, rating him No. 54 overall on its big board:

McNeil earned the highest run-defense grade among the country's defensive tackles this past season. He’s an immovable force on the nose at 320 pounds and has enough burst off the line to develop as a pass-rusher.

McNeill had 26 tackles, including 4.5 for loss and a sack, a forced fumble and fumble recovery and one memorable pick-six at Virginia during the season.

——

• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den

Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook

Advertisement