Q: And McClain?

DJ: “He’s a good player but I don’t think he’s an elite player. He’s not Patrick Willis or Jon Beason or any of the three USC linebackers that came out last year (Matthews, Cushing and Maualuga). I think he’s more like Karlos Dansby of Arizona, more of a finesse linebacker than some of those names that I mentioned. Then you have to look at how he’s going to fit into a Mike Nolan defense. Mike likes a thumper, a real tackler and then a freelance floater, a guy that can get out to the perimeter and make plays on the edge. So you have to look and see whether McClain’s a floater or a thumper and some people think he’s going to be the thumper, but I think in Mike’s system he’s the floater. He’s very instinctive, a flow and feel guy. But at 12? I don’t know. I really don’t”

Q: I think he’s as instinctive as I’ve seen but when you watch him in isolation, he loafs quite a bit, especially on plays going away from him or working down the field. Do you see that?

DJ: I do. He does a lot of loafing for a guy rated so highly. I spent a few years around the greatest inside linebacker to ever play the game in Ray Lewis and I never saw him loaf in practice let alone in games, so that’s an issue for me. I don’t think he’s going to run very fast, he looks like a 4.75 type guy and I have to say that 12 is a little early for me.