Now this I gotta see. Daniel McCullers recently said he’s working on his pass rushing repertoire in this make-or-break season, practicing a spin move to bring to 2017.
“I have been a ‘nose’ all four years,” he told the Trib’s Chris Adamski. “But hopefully I can show my pass-rush moves and my little spin. I’m working on a little spin I can use. I’m gonna try to add that to it. So hopefully I can put that on film and put it out there so they can use me in that nickel situation.”
McCullers best, and really only, pass rush move has been his bull rush. To his credit, it’s been effective, especially against undersized centers relatively speaking; they’re all small stacked up to McCullers. Adding a second move is a good idea for linemen who are expecting power though its effectiveness is very much in question.
He has 1.5 career sacks, with his full one coming last season against the Cleveland Browns in the regular season finale. We have him charted for five additional pressures, one every 18 snaps, which actually was the best snaps per pressure mark of any Steelers’ defensive linemen and the second best on the entire team. I don’t think the tape matches up with the numbers but food for thought.
Adamski’s articles made mention of McCullers’ annual mission to drop weight. He says by camp, he wants to be down 18 pounds. If we were to assume – a dangerous game – he played at last year’s listed weight of 352, he’d come into Latrobe at 334 pounds.
Leverage and effort aren’t his biggest issues despite the easy narrative that they are. It’s his movement ability and his personality that have hindered him the most. Losing weight could help with the former but there’s little to fix the latter.
Expect McCullers to show off his spin move during one-on-ones in training camp. I don’t think it’s going to be something he’ll find useful but with his Steelers’ career on the line, it’s worth a shot.
