Zech

McPhearson

McPhearson was competing for a depth role on the Eagles’ 53-man roster. He left the field after breaking up a pass and immediately going down. In addition to his defensive acumen, he has also been a standout performer on special teams.

McPhearson (5'11/191) started his career at Penn State, but failed to launch. He then transferred to Texas Tech prior to the 2019 season, where he immediately took and held a starting job for the following two seasons. Part of McPhearson’s success came down to TTU allowing him to regularly play in off-coverage, primarily as a deep-third defender in Cover 3. McPhearson has decent ball skills and his 41-inch vertical (93rd percentile) really shows up when he has to fight for the ball in the air. However, McPhearson plays well below his weight and is regularly bullied by receivers, whether that is in the rare instance he is playing press coverage or when receivers are trying to snap off at the top of their routes. The dream for McPhearson is something along the lines of Levi Wallace, but he is far, far away from that right now. Pro Football Focus gave Philadelphia the 26th overall coverage grade last year but the Eagles were swamped by injuries. McPhearson will get the chance to develop in his rookie season but could see extensive playing time if the Eagles are unable to field a healthy secondary in 2021.

As a graduate transfer, the 6-foot, 180-pound McPhearson will be eligible to play immediately with the Red Raiders in 2018. Count him as a depth add for Texas Tech after he logged 16 career tackles during his time in Happy Valley.

McPhearson (5'11/195) was a graduate transfer from Penn State for the 2019 season, and he posted a solid 75.5 PFF grade in his first year in Lubbock. "[He] allowed just 0.72 yards per coverage snap on the outside, which ranked 22nd in the FBS, and allowed only six gains of 15 or more yards on over 400 coverage snaps,” Treash writes. McPhearson will be starting on the outside for the Red Raiders again in 2020, and likely will be in charge of covering the Big 12s top wideouts this Fall.

McPhearson (6'0/180) is a former four-star corner and top-300 ESPN recruit, but he hasn’t been playing for the Nittany Lions. As a redshirt sophomore, McPhearson only had 8 total tackles. Teammates Brandon Polk and Lamont Wade are also in the transfer portal.

After drawing early interest from Alabama, Boston College and Cal, McPhearson signed with Penn State in April of 2015. While he fails to crack the Rivals250, ESPN 300 checks him in at No. 129. The 6-foot, 180-pounder calls Upper Marlboro, Maryland, home. At Riverdale Baptist High School, he proved to be a “fluid athlete who is a threat in the return game and [could] play either receiver or cornerback in college,” noted Brian Dohn of Scout.com. Dohn went on to voice his belief that McPhearson will need to bulk add bulk to help his physicality in attacking the run game.

McPhearson (6'0/180) is one of five Nittany Lions whom Land of 10’s Audrey Snyder tabbed as a breakout performer from the spring. Wrote the analyst, “McPhearson should have plenty of opportunities to carve out some type of role either on defense or special teams this season.” This past season -- his first active one in Happy Valley -- the redshirt sophomore logged six tackles.