AUBURN, Ala. – Next week, Roger McCreary will receive the phone call from an NFL team and watch as his name is read aloud to the masses tuning into the NFL draft. It might be in the first round. It might be in the second or third round.
For the former Auburn cornerback, it's a dream come true just to be drafted.
"I try not to think about it, but you're going to think about it," McCreary said. "I don't know how I'm going to feel. A lot of people say I'm going to cry. I'm not one to show my emotions, but I might cry and just let it all out. In that moment, I'm going to give all the glory to God because without Him none of this would be possible."
Coming out of high school, the NFL might have seemed like a longshot for McCreary. He was the 87th-ranked cornerback in the 2018 class and ranked No. 989 overall by 247 Sports. The next level wasn't even on his radar when he first got to Auburn. He was focused on the present. How can I get better? How can I help the team?
It wasn't until his junior year when the NFL started to feel like an achievable goal.
"I always try to think I've got a lot to prove," McCreary said. "When my junior year hit and I was doing well, a lot of people said I could possibly get drafted. I wasn't thinking like that because I'm trying to prove myself. My thought was, 'I'm not good enough. I'm not there yet. I still have to keep going.'
"That's the reason why I stayed. I wanted to graduate, I wanted to help improve my draft stock, and I feel like it was a great decision to stay. That senior year, my confidence went to 100. I was 100 percent confident that I would do great at the next level."
As a senior, McCreary finished with 49 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions and an SEC-best 14 passes broken up. He was a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award, he was named First Team All-SEC by the league's coaches, and he became Auburn's first All-American since Derrick Brown in 2019. He also earned an invitation to the Reese's Senior Bowl.
Not bad for a player who was once ranked No. 989 nationally and who many glossed over as an afterthought when he signed with the Tigers in 2018.
"I've come a long way," McCreary said. "In high school, I was the underdog. I had a chip on my shoulder. I've always had that mentality with a chip on my shoulder. I've just got to prove everybody wrong and be there for the people that support me."
For McCreary, that chip isn't going anywhere. He'll take it all in next week and relish the moment he gets drafted, but then it's back to work. Back to proving everybody wrong.
DRAFT ANALYSIS
Chris Trapasso, CBS (@ChrisTrapasso)
You've come to the right person for perspective on McCreary because I have a middle-of-the-first-round grade on the Tiger star. His film, for multiple seasons, was spectacular. Press work, recovery skill, change-of-direction brilliance, and vitally, tremendous ball skills were on display every Saturday – from his stellar work against Ja'Marr Chase in 2019 to the masterpiece of a ball game he had against Alabama in 2021, McCreary is genuinely a gamer with high-level traits. If he ran a tick faster and had arms a little longer, this would not be viewed as a controversial opinion. He gives me major Tre'Davious White vibes and will be a quality pro for a decade.
Dane Brugler, The Athletic (@dpbrugler)
McCreary plays sticky in coverage because of his fluidity to shadow and awareness to recognize route concepts. He plays with a chip on his shoulder and looks to mix things up, but his physical nature will backfire in coverage and lead to wild habits as a run defender. Overall, McCreary lacks ideal length, but he is a quick-reaction athlete with the ball skills and competitive mentality to face off against NFL receivers. He offers inside/outside versatility and should compete for a starting role as an NFL rookie.
SIGNATURE MOMENT
Looking back at McCreary's time at Auburn, there are two moments that stand out above the rest – one from his first year on the field and one from his final game.
The first one came in 2019 at LSU. Eventual Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow was looking for Ja'Marr Chase down the right sideline, but McCreary stayed in front of Chase, jumped up and snatched the ball away for his first career interception. It was one of six career interceptions for McCreary, but that one will always be special because of who he took it away from – one of the best young wide receivers in the NFL today.
The second moment wasn't an interception or a sack or anything like that. It was the first half against Alabama last year and one drive in particular where McCreary broke up three passes on the same drive, putting the college football world on notice. His play was instrumental in keeping the Crimson Tide off the scoreboard in the first half.
Auburn CB McCreary is taking over this game. He has been lights out in man-to-man coverage.
— Todd McShay (@McShay13) November 27, 2021