Alabama Football: Freshman Kyriq McDonald intends to beat the odds

Alabama football freshman and early enrollee Kyriq McDonald was not a high-profile recruit, but he believes he can become a high-profile player.

Whatever can be measured and quantified will be scrutinized by Alabama football and every other team. Player measurables dominate high school recruit ratings and NFL draft selections.

Coming out of James Clemens High School, McDonald was a consensus 3-Star recruit. Check out our Signing Day profile of Kyriq.

Among fans of the top Power Five teams, 3-Star recruits typically receive a ho-hum response. 247 Sports ranked McDonald as the No. 47 cornerback prospect in the nation, but among the nation’s best players he was ranked No. 477.

Kyriq is an all-around athlete. He was on the James Clemens track team as a sprinter and long-jumper. He starred at defensive back and as a kick returner. He even played a little wildcat quarterback.

So why wasn’t Kyriq more highly ranked as a recruit? Despite running track, McDonald’s 40-time is a very average 4.62 seconds. Running 4.62 is not slow. In fact, Bo Scarbrough runs a slightly higher 4.6.

The problem is a 4.62 40-yard time is outside the player measurables expected for elite cornerbacks. Flexible hips are probably more important for cornerbacks than straight line speed, but speed is important.

A 4.62 defensive back covering a 4.4 receiver like Calvin Ridley or Jerry Jeudy gives the offensive player an advantage on some routes.

For Alabama football, Tony Brown and Anthony Averett are 4.3 guys. Minkah Fitzpatrick runs a 4.4. Alabama football even has a linebacker, Dylan Moses who runs a 4.46 40-time.

McDonald is certainly fast enough to play safety, where he practiced most of the spring. In the A-Day game, he played at Star, backing up Shyheim Carter.

Alabama football has many safeties and not so many cornerbacks. Identifying at least two capable backup corners has to be a Tide priority in fall camp.

McDonald surprised many people with an interception in the A-Day game. Even with his speed questions, he may get a look at cornerback.

One of his high school coaches, Layne Rinks had this to say about Kyriq.

"“He’s a playmaker. He knows how to make plays in ball games. He knows how to get the ball and he knows how to score with the ball. And he’s extremely, extremely competitive, and he’s always had that chip on his shoulder. He played with a chip on his shoulder as a junior and made plays and got a scholarship offer to Alabama. Then, his senior year, he had a chip on his shoulder because his recruiting profile said he was often inconsistent, so he worked on that. Now, he’s at Alabama, and there were people before he went down there saying that he’d never play and would only make it a year and would transfer and so forth, and he played with a chip on his shoulder all spring and got the interception in the spring game.”"

One important player trait football analytics cannot measure is competitive character. Legendary UCLA basketball coach is often cited for saying “sports do not build character, they reveal it.”

According to quoteinvestigator.com the source of the often quoted statement was actually broadcaster Heyward Hale Broun.

Kyriq McDonald has probably never heard of Heyward Hale Broun, and maybe not John Wooden either. Character is developed by action, not by reading what someone has said.

Nonetheless, we will offer the opinion that character can sometimes transcend physical limitations. That is why Kyriq McDonald has a chance to show he is much better than the No. 477 ranked high school player in 2016.

Next: All-Time Alabama Football Team by Position

Follow along throughout the summer as we present a series of profiles on other lesser known Alabama football players.