Faced with a rash of injuries at the tight end position, the Detroit Lions signed undrafted free agent Ben McCord for the remainder of OTAs.
Lions have signed undrafted rookie free agent TE Ben McCord (Central Michigan).
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) June 1, 2016
McCord arrives just after Tim Wright was placed on IR with a torn ACL, the reason for his waiver last week. The Warren, MI native was initially signed by the Arizona Cardinals but was let go after the first rookie minicamp.
Does he have a chance to stick with the Lions? Perhaps, in part because his skills are pretty redundant to the man he’s replacing on the roster.
Like Wright, McCord is a hybrid tight end/wide receiver. He’s 6’2” and 237 pounds, down a little from his playing weight of a listed 243. He lettered all four year in Mount Pleasant.
The Chippewas used him as a flex tight end; over 50% of his snaps in his final two seasons came in the slot or in motion. Quickness is his calling card. He has a very impressive first step off the line, and he can make breaks at high speed. McCord works the middle of the field well but is better running tandem routes with a flanking wideout.
He averaged over 15 yards per catch and scored 5 TDs as a senior, finishing in the top 10 nationally for tight end yardage on his 37 catches.
I saw McCord in person at the Quick Lane Bowl against Minnesota, at Ford Field back in December. He wound up with just 2 catches in a game where the Golden Gopher pass rush gave Chips QB Cooper Rush all sorts of trouble.
Blocking is not his forte. Neither the effort nor the technique are good enough for the Lions, or any NFL team, to consider using him inline.
I asked CMU sideline reporter Jim Costa, whom I appear with on ESPN 96.1 in Grand Rapids during the football season, about McCord. His opinion was not overly favorable, noting a bit of a prima donna attitude. Costa did note McCord had the best hands on the team and that NFL scouts had passed through Mount Pleasant throughout the season and always asked about the tight end with the fast feet.
During the draft process, McCord was marketed as a player similar to Devin Funchess or Jimmy Graham, big-bodied receivers who straddle the line between tight end and wide receiver. The Lions have Eric Ebron in that role, and McCord’s best shot is to show enough receiving prowess in his limited time to merit a preseason shot to earn the backup role behind Ebron.