Benardrick McKinney

McKinney completed all of the essential combine drills and finished second among all linebackers in the vertical jump, fifth in the broad jump, ninth in the short shuttle, tenth in the 40-yard dash, and tied for 11th amongst his position group in the three-cone drill.

Benardrick Cornelius McKinney (born November 19, 1992) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL).

Eventually accepting the Bulldogs' scholarship offer, McKinney became the first Rosa Fort player to sign with an Southeastern Conference (SEC) program since 2001.

After redshirting his initial year at Mississippi State University, McKinney played in all 13 games in the 2012 season.

By the fourth game, he made the starting lineup and remained there for the rest of the season.

A week later at Kentucky McKinney posted 12 tackles (10 solo), 1 tackle for loss and his first two career pass breakups, earning him Co-SEC Freshman of the Week, alongside Johnny Manziel.

The week after that he recorded a season-high 14 tackles at home against Tennessee, which he tied later in a loss to Texas A&M.

For the season, McKinney totalled 102 tackles, which led all SEC freshmen and tied for second among freshmen in the FBS.

He earned All-SEC Freshman honors by the SEC coaches and ESPN.com, and was named a First-team Freshman All-American by CBSSports.com, FoxSportsNext, Phil Steele and CollegeFootballNews.com.

As a sophomore, McKinney led the team in tackles with 71 and sacks with 3.5.

As a junior, he again led the team in tackles with 71.

He was named first-team All-SEC and was an All-American.

He played college football for the Mississippi State Bulldogs and was selected by the Houston Texans in the second round of the 2015 NFL draft.

A native of Tunica, Mississippi, McKinney attended Rosa Fort High School, where he played linebacker and quarterback for the varsity football team and also started for the basketball team.

In his junior season, McKinney threw for 530 yards with five touchdowns and rushed for 100 yards and one score, while also serving as the team's punter.

On defense, he was credited with 34 tackles on the season.

As a senior, McKinney accounted for 2,036 total yards of offense and 22 touchdowns (seven on the ground and fifteen passes) with 1,334 passing and 702 yards rushing.

He also almost doubled his tackle total with 66.

For postseason honors, the state's high school coaches selected him to the North/South All-Star Game as a linebacker.

Regarded as a three-star recruit by 247Sports.com, McKinney was ranked as the No. 49 athlete in his class.

He was recruited by Memphis, Southern Miss and Mississippi State.

After his junior season, McKinney entered the 2015 NFL draft.

Prior to his junior season, McKinney was projected as a first round selection in the 2015 draft.

On January 9, 2015, McKinney announced that he had decided to forgo his senior season and enter the draft.

Before the start of the pre-draft events, McKinney was ranked as the second best linebacker in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock.

He was one of 34 collegiate linebackers to attend the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana.

On March 4, 2015, he attended Mississippi State's pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills for the team representatives and scouts from 29 NFL teams, including New York Jets defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers and New Orleans Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt.

As a highly sought after prospect, McKinney attended private visits and workouts with multiple NFL teams, including the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Saints, Chicago Bears, and Minnesota Vikings.

At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, McKinney was projected to be a second round pick by draft experts and scouts.

He was ranked the third best linebacker in the draft by NFL analyst Lance Zierlein, was ranked the fourth best linebacker by Sports Illustrated, was ranked the fifth best inside linebacker by Charles Davis, and was ranked the fifth best linebacker in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock.

The Houston Texans selected McKinney in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2015 draft.

The Texans traded to the Browns their second (51st overall), fourth (116th overall), and sixth round (195th overall) picks in the 2015 draft to move up and draft McKinney after receiving the Browns' second (43rd overall) and seventh round (229th overall) picks.

He was the fourth linebacker selected in 2015.

On May 8, 2015, the Texans signed McKinney to a four-year, $5.34 million contract that includes $2.82 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2.14 million.

He entered training camp competing against veterans Akeem Dent, Mike Mohamed, and Jeff Tarpinian for a job as a starting inside linebacker.

Head coach Bill O'Brien named McKinney the backup inside linebacker behind Brian Cushing and Akeem Dent to start the regular season.

He made his professional regular season debut in the Texans' season-opener against the Kansas City Chiefs and recorded one solo tackle in their 27–20 loss.

In Week 3, McKinney earned his first career start after head coach Bill O'Brien opted to start the rookie over Akeem Dent.

He recorded four combined tackles in the Texans' 19–9 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On October 18, 2015, he made his third career start and recorded three combined tackles during a 31–20 victory at the Jacksonville Jaguars.