Chris McClellan Bucs Scouting Report

The Bucs added to the entrance seven on Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft, drafting proficient Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. At defensive sort out, Tampa Bay may stand so as to add another reinforcement. With star nostril sort out Vita Vea getting into a contract 12 months, the current departures of fellow defensive tackles/ends Greg Gaines and Logan Hall, and their replacements – Rakeem Nuñez-Roches and A’Shawn Robinson – signing simply one-year offers, the workforce may very well be on the lookout for younger expertise at defensive sort out this draft weekend.

Chris McClellan could also be a defensive sort out the workforce targets.

He has been featured on a number of draft profiles right here at Pewter Report, together with our Final 7-Round Mock Draft. During this draft cycle, I’ve offered in-depth scouting stories for dozens of NFL prospects, focusing totally on inside linebacker and edge defender. But McClellan is the second defensive sort out I’m profiling. Lee Hunter of Texas Tech, was the primary.

Chris McClellan Background And College Career

Chris McClellan arrived in Florida as a four-star prospect within the 2022 recruiting class out of Owasso, Oklahoma, and spent two seasons with the Gators gathering modest manufacturing numbers. He performed in 25 video games, gathering 46 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Following the 2023 season McClellan transferred to Missouri and his play and manufacturing actually took off.

in two seasons With the Tigers, McClellan performed 26 video games and produced 87 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, and eight.5 sacks in opposition to SEC competitors. And he saved his finest season for final, setting profession highs virtually throughout the board with 48 tackles, 6.0 tackles for losses and eight.0 sacks in 2025.

McClellan has a powerful 2025 manufacturing profile when in comparison with his friends. Via PFF Data:

• Tackle Rate – 80^th percentile
• Batted Pass Rate – 80^th percentile
• TFL Rate – 70^th percentile
• Stop Rate – 93^rd percentile
• Nose Rate – 29^th percentile
• Pass Rush Win Rate – 86^th percentile
• Pressure Rate – 70^th percentile
• Sack Rate – 88^th percentile
• Hit fee – 84^th percentile
• TPS Pressure Rate – 62^n.d. percentile
• Finishing Rate – 83^rd percentile

Measurables

Per Mockdraftable:

• Height – 6’4 (72^n.d. percentile)
• Weight – 313 lbs (70^th percentile)
• Arm size – 34” (78^th percentile)
• Hand measurement – 11” (97^th percentile)
• 40-yard sprint – 5.05 seconds (60^th percentile)
• 10-yard break up – 1.8 seconds (21^st percentile)
• Vert – 29.5” (50^th percentile)
• Broad – 117” (96^th percentile)
• Bench Press – 25 reps (33^rd percentile)

Chris McClellan Scouting Report

Games watched: 2025 South Carolina, 2025 Arkansas, 2025 Texas A&M

Athleticism

Chris McClellan strikes effectively not only for his measurement, however for the general place.

Missouri DT Chris McClellan – Photo by: IMAGN Images- Vasha Hunt

Watch him monitor vast zone pitches and also you see a 313-pound man doing issues that the majority defensive tackles, even smaller ones, aren’t even trying. McClellan’s broad soar (96th percentile) confirms what the movie reveals — there’s actual preliminary pop in his decrease half, and a real burst on the snap that lets him get into place earlier than blockers can set.

His hips are functionally unfastened, working effectively when he is requested to maneuver horizontally in opposition to lateral run ideas, however struggling when he has to redirect in house in opposition to my instructions or making an attempt to learn, react and chase a bootleg. But he makes up for a few of that together with his 34-inch arms (78th percentile), that are authentic weapons. He locks out, retains blockers off his chest, and makes use of his attain to keep up hole integrity in ways in which smaller-armed DTs merely cannot. That’s a trait that interprets impartial of scheme.

Run Defense

This is the muse of his NFL case, and it is an actual one.

The trait that jumps off the movie is his eyes. Chris McClellan retains his head within the backfield, processes misdirection shortly, and adjusts sooner than most large males you may watch. He would not get caught staring on the first pretend. He would not over-pursue the jet movement and go away his hole uncovered. His soccer IQ on the level of assault is an actual plus.

Strong palms assist him displace blockers, and when he will get these lengthy arms working accurately, he is profitable the rep clear — lockout, preserve the blocker off his body, play by to the ball. The 93rd percentile cease fee is not a fluke. He finds the ball and he finishes.

Where the run protection grade takes a success is within the consistency column, notably in opposition to elite competitors. The Texas A&M sport was an actual attention-grabbing look ahead to me. Against pro-level OL expertise, the method breakdowns develop into extra frequent. McClellan had unhealthy losses close to the objective line, pad degree climbing too excessive, getting caught leaning. It wasn’t a horrible sport general, but it surely had a large band of variance. And these reps elevate authentic questions on how his instruments will translate in opposition to the most effective inside blockers within the NFL each Sunday.

Pass Rush

McClellan is extra of a disruptor relatively than a finisher. Despite his wholesome sack numbers in 2025, I mission him to be extra of a stress participant than a sack securer on the subsequent degree. His finest go rush attribute is his cross-face quickness. He will get into place shortly as a result of he not often stops shifting his toes. And when he is working as a stunter, looping on a twist or capturing a spot created by a teammate, he is efficient. He sells out for the workforce idea, which is each a training endorsement and an sincere self-assessment of the place his particular person rush expertise at present stand.

Missouri DT Chris McClellan – Photo by: IMAGN Images

His go to method for clearing blockers on the finish of a rep is a rip transfer that’s common at finest. He throws it with sufficient intent however not sufficient conviction. Blockers really feel it coming and soak up it earlier than he can get clear. The pad degree challenge that reveals up in run protection turns into amplified in go rush as a result of when it will get excessive on an prolonged rep, he might be redirected away from the quarterback and brought fully out of the play. That’s how competent tackles deal with him when the preliminary burst would not get him a free lane.

What the movie would not adequately seize, however the 86th percentile go rush win fee does, is how usually McClellan creates for different folks. Pockets collapse when he is on the sphere. Quarterbacks really feel him even when he would not end. That’s authentic worth in a Tampa Bay entrance the place rotational DTs are requested to be chaos brokers, not particular person sack producers.

IQ & Processing

McClellan is the form of participant who makes coaches completely satisfied and stats pages incomplete. He units up his rushes with a pre-snap side-step that creates a lane to work again into. He acknowledges screens early. He adjusts to backfield movement at a velocity that does not match his measurement. Whatever his ceiling is as an NFL participant, it is not being held down by soccer intelligence.

The processing limitation is within the go rush sequencing. He has a plan, however the plan is restricted. If the primary transfer would not work, he recycles again to energy and hopes the QB holds the ball. There aren’t any second-act counters within the rush toolbox proper now. Whether that develops depends upon teaching and the way significantly he takes the technical work on the subsequent degree.

Best Role And How He Fits With The Bucs

I may see Chris McClellan being a late Day 2 to early Day 3 decide. In Todd Bowles’ system, McClellan may work as one of the crucial versatile defensive linemen within the room instantly, taking part in some nostril/shade, three-technique, 4i and five-technique subsequent to Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey. But he ought to log essentially the most snaps for the Bucs splitting between 4i and three-technique.

Bucs DTs Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The mixture of lateral quickness, lengthy arms, and a capability to learn the backfield makes him a authentic every-down run defender on the subsequent degree — not a two-down space-eater who comes off the sphere in nickel conditions, however a participant who can maintain up structurally in a wide range of run matches.

The Bucs use motion fronts and stunts greater than most defenses within the league. McClellan’s willingness to be a stunter — and his cross-face quickness when executing these video games — is instantly relevant. He will not publish the sack totals that dominate draft boards, however the disruption will probably be there, and in a entrance that schematically creates play-making alternatives for linebackers, a participant who occupies two blockers and clears gaps for these linebackers has actual worth.

I’ve McClellan forward of Lee Hunter on my large board as DT1 (of simply these two). He’s a tier-four participant in my analysis system as somebody who should not begin his rookie 12 months, however by 12 months two or three he can transfer right into a strong beginning function.