NFL Draft
3/10/25
5 min read
Mac McWilliams 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For UCF Knights CB
Height: 5100 (verified)
Weight: 181lbs (verified)
Year: Redshirt Senior
Pro Comparison: Parry Nickerson
Scouting Overview
UCF Knights cornerback Mac McWilliams projects as a potential special teams fit and zone cornerback for the NFL. He has the right temperament for the league despite being undersized.
McWilliams took a step forward with his play after four seasons at UAB and should be an interesting Day 3 bet for a team. He offers good tackling habits, sufficient run support, and some significant ball production, although ironically, his ball production was way down in 2024 in spite of improved play.
2025 NFL Combine Results
| Position | Name | School | 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Split | Broad Jump | Vertical Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yard Shuttle | Bench Press |
| CB | Mac McWilliams | UCF | 4.41 | 1.52 | 34 |
Positives
- Illustrates good aggression with his press coverage opportunities to disrupt route timing
- Offers concise transitional quickness when playing from a pedal
- Punches above his weight class as a tackler and run support defender
Negatives
- Plays too lose in off coverage to concede notable separation on in-breaking patterns
- Lacking in length required to play through receivers or diminish the margin of error when playing in phase
- Worry exists about getting thrown around by bigger receivers with his smaller frame
Background
McWilliams is from Pensacola, FL, and played high school football for Pine Forest HS. There, he was a 2-star recruit (247 Sports) as a cornerback and received interest from programs like Coastal Carolina, Marshall, Middle Tennessee State, and more before ultimately committing to UAB.
McWilliams played in four games as a true freshman in 2020, redshirting the season. He appeared in eight games with six starts as a redshirt freshman and was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team. McWilliams played in another seven games in 2022 before suffering a season-ending injury. He returned to the lineup in 2023 as a team captain who started every game.
After the 2023 season, McWilliams entered the transfer portal as a 3-star transfer (247 Sports). He landed with UCF and started 11 games to finish out his college career.
McWilliams accepted an invitation to the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Tale Of The Tape
McWilliams is a competitive cornerback who doesn’t necessarily meet the prototypical standards to play at the position. He’s a compact, short-armed defender with good movement skills and a hot motor. His physical shortcomings are aided by his attitude and how much he likes to hit.
In coverage, McWilliams has experience serving as a primary outside corner and a nickel defender. He took a majority of snaps in the nickel at UAB in 2023 and returned to playing mostly on the outside in 2024 after transferring to UCF.
The Knights played heavy zone coverage that charged him with playing deep thirds and deep quarters coverages. McWilliams showed effective change of direction ability, but his processing playing overtop and detached from the body of receivers too often left him sagging off the top of the route. As a result, he conceded easy breaks into the middle of the field. Trusting his transitions playing deep coverage is an area for added focus.
When playing in the face of receivers, he showed a compact and violent punch to disrupt releases. His wingspan and area of influence at the line of scrimmage are below average, and he’ll need to be mindful of not overcommitting early and then putting himself into recovery mode in the first five yards.
When McWilliams plays on receivers' bodies from the trail position, he offers enough speed to stay squeezed into the back hip. Still, when receivers lean against him and force him to play with functional strength while carrying down the field, the subsequent break can compromise his positioning, as he has to scrap extra hard to pressure back due to his size.
His ball production is a mix of opportune punches at the catch point after the ball has arrived and physicality syncing with the football. An overwhelming amount of his ball production has come in man coverage and at the catch point. This isn’t a ball-hawking player with eyes that will space routes cleanly and jump-throwing windows.
As a run defender, it is super easy to like his play demeanor. He is intense, shows good tackling prowess, and diagnoses for the kind of tackle challenge he needs to bring.
His lack of length can create problems with cleanly disengaging from blocks to uncover, but his foot speed and aggression put him well aligned to beat blocks in space and create unobtainable angles for blockers to get attached to his body.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
McWilliams projects as a developmental nickel defender, thanks to his ability to support the run and his quick-footed transitions. His stature likely makes him an unattractive fit for base nickel teams and would relegate him to being more of a matchup-specific talent.
In the meantime, he does have potential as a special teams kick coverage player to offer gameday value.
Grade: 69.50/100.00, Sixth Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
Make sure to check out our new home for all of our NFL Draft content.
