Alabama Football Recruiting National Signing Day 2017: Player Profiles: Kyriq McDonald

Kyriq McDonald (DB)

When Kyriq McDonald committed to the Tide at the end of July, we effusively praised his ball skills, play-making, versatility and football smarts, despite seeming to be undersized for Saban’s scheme.

Here’s what we wrote:

At 5'11" 190, he's a bit small for an Alabama defensive back, but what he lacks in size, he makes up for in fire. He's a ball-hawking, play-making force in the defensive backfield, as he displays incredible field awareness and instincts to always be around the ball. He plays in a safety/nickel corner hybrid role, and also excels at many different facets of special teams.McDonald is a three-star player, and rated as the 29th best player in the state of Alabama. However, I see him as a candidate to rise up the ranks tremendously as this upcoming season progresses.

Scout also notes that Kyriq possesses exceptional play-making ability and can contribute immediately in the special teams game — and both skills hearken back to other versatile-but-undersized DBs of the Saban era, Javier Arenas and Cyrus Jones.

Like Javier and Cyrus, McDonald never got that fourth star from the recruiting services, but he was still an important in-state pickup for the Tide.

Scout, echoing Brent, recently wrote:

McDonald isn't a classic defensive back in terms of position but he can impact a secondary and a defense in many ways. The physical prospect can make plays near the line of scrimmage or downfield against a pass catcher upon contact, but no matter the situation he values the football and shows considerable ball skill in making plays on it.

Here are some of Kyriq’s highlights from our partners at Hudl.

We’ll have more coverage on Kyriq over the coming weeks in our “Meet the New Guys” series.