Former Tennessee Volunteers defensive tackle Daniel McCullers is literally the biggest man at the 2014 Senior Bowl at 6-7, 348-pounds and a wingspan greater than seven-feet at 85.5 inches.
However, after a disappointing finish to his career on Rocky Top where McCullers did not live up to expectations, he is making some positive impressions in the Senior Bowl practices.
"“While he does still play consistently high off the snap and seems to lack great bend, he was consistently able to over-power blockers with tremendously strong hands and upper half, and sorted through blockers at a high level, particularly when they ran zone blocking plays. He’s a work in progress technique-wise, but his natural talent and ability to have success against interior lineman in this game should ease team’s mind about his future impact.” [Source: Optimum Scouting]"
This is a stark contrast to the first day of practice where his physique was described as ‘unimpressive’ and he was being shoved around in drills and looking slow and sluggish.
Tennessee fans are all too familiar with that from McCullers who entered the 2013 season with high expectations after dropping a lot of weight, but that didn’t translate to production on the football field. His weight is always going to be a concern and a big risk for teams that consider drafting him.
Today was an encouraging day for McCullers as he looks to build on today’s improvement. The big thing is can he carry that over into Wednesday and into Saturday’s game. He needs to show a string of consistent effort and results to have any NFL team consider drafting him prior to Day 3.