Big.
Daniel McCullers is big. In fact he’s the biggest player to ever put on a Steelers uniform at 6’7″ 350 pounds. He’s got a massive wingspan as well, with 37″ arms.
McCullers has a couple of things going for him that are somewhat rare for his size.
He never missed a game due to injury in college. He also doesn’t seem to have the weight issues some guys do at that size.
He apparently weighed around 400 pounds when he started at Tennessee but when you look at him now, he carries his weight very well.
The fact that he got his weight under control at the college level make me pretty optimistic that he won’t have problems with it going forward.
When you look at McCullers he doesn’t look like some other NFL behemoths like Terrence Cody, Sam Adams, or Shaun Rogers… There’s some muscle definition there.
Where Big Dan wins is where you’d expect, simply overpowering weaker lineman in front of him. After that though, there’s not much. He’s definitely a project.
I’m skeptical about him ever really working out even as a backup, because his height is actually working against him.
Smart lineman will simply get lower than McCullers, and use that leverage to control him. He could eventually move the DE if needed, where guys are typically a little taller.
All that being said, they say you can’t coach size and defensive line coach John Mitchell seemed pretty excited about grabbing this kid.
If he can refine his technique, and work on standing straight up, he has the raw tools obviously to be a dominant force in the middle of the defense.
I’m a skeptic but I still think he was a good pick, if that’s possible. In the 6th round plenty of picks flame out, so I like the strategy of at least swinging for the fences.
