More offers, interest for McKinney

A strong start to his senior season will no doubt continue to feed the spike in interest Detroit Cooley defensive end Jarrell McKinney is receiving. The 6-5, 211-pound prospect holds three offers from Mid-American Conference programs and is now starting to hear from BCS Conference schools as well.

“I’m still sitting back and collecting offers for right now,” McKinney reported. “Michigan, Michigan State and Cincinnati have been inviting me to their games and everything.”

McKinney accepted one of those game invites this past weekend and headed out to East Lansing to see Michigan State play host to Western Michigan.

“I liked the way that is up there,” McKinney said. “I’ve never been to a campus like that. All the tailgating and stuff, I’d never seen that before. I talked to one of the coaches in the player’s lounge before the game, but we had to leave the game early.”

McKinney will see Western Michigan again this weekend when he takes an unofficial visit to Kalamazoo. The Broncos are one of three schools in the MAC that has already offered a scholarship. The others are Toledo and Akron.

“Akron, right now, is at the top of my list because I have a real good chance of playing early,” McKinney said.

McKinney is also a standout basketball player for Cooley, and his athleticism translates from the basketball court over to the football field. He runs a 4.6 40-yard dash and has plenty of room on his 6-5 frame to continue adding weight, giving schools a choice about where to play him in college.

“They are talking about more than one position because of my speed, my ability to move and ability to get sideline to sideline,” McKinney said. “Most are projecting me as a rush end, but some would still like to try me at linebacker. I like d-end better because I think I will be able to play that better at the next level.

McKinney opened his senior season with a 10-tackle, two-sack, two forced fumble outing on defense to go along with one catch for 20 yards on offense. He tallied four receptions, including one that went for a touchdown, to go along with six tackles and a sack on defense in his second game.

Cooley lines McKinney up as both a tight end and wide receiver on offense, and uses him as both a defensive end and linebacker on defense.