The New Orleans Saints made Texas A&M center Erik McCoy one of the highest-picked centers in the 2019 NFL Draft when they traded up to select him. While McCoy has plenty of physical gifts — he timed the best 40-yard dash at this year’s combine at his position (4.89 seconds) at 6-foot-4, 303 pounds — he would sooner point to the work he’s put in studying game film and rehearsing his techniques as the source of his success.
“Knowing what the defensive linemen have to do on every single play and how you can counter that and really beat them is important,” McCoy explained in a pre-draft interview with Pro Football Focus.