\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\tComposite Rank: #552\u00a0(#63 DL)<\/p>\n
\tBackground<\/p>\n
\n\tMcKinley originally committed to LSU in August 2025, but things changed quickly after Ohio State offered him on Oct. 30,\u00a0just four days after the Tigers fired Brian Kelly. He took an official visit to Columbus for the Buckeyes\u2019 win over UCLA on Nov. 15,\u00a0a trip that ultimately won him over.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tEven with his older brother\u00a0Dominick\u00a0playing for LSU, McKinley flipped his commitment to Ohio State, becoming the sixth defensive lineman in the Buckeyes\u2019 2026 class.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tMcKinley started to break out as a disruptive force during his sophomore year of high school,\u00a0recording 50 tackles (12 TFL), four sacks and 11 quarterback hurries. He followed that up with 50 tackles (18 TFL), 10 sacks and six pass breakups as a junior. As a senior, McKinley notched 72 tackles (27 TFL) and 9.5 sacks. He was named Academic All-Conference all four years of his high school career.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tHe played all over the defensive line throughout his high school career, but was primarily a defensive end at Acadiana. McKinley’s production steadily improved each season on varsity, further showcasing his development with increased experience.\n<\/p>\n
\tScouting Report<\/p>\n
\n\tMcKinley has the strength to overpower smaller linemen, quickness off the line to get past\u00a0linemen who are bigger than him\u00a0and already flashes\u00a0some of the moves needed to get in the backfield against similarly sized opponents.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWith a quick first step, he consistently lived in opponents\u2019 backfields as a high school player. He also brings positional versatility, showing the ability to play with his hand in the dirt or stand up on the edge. While he\u2019s starting his Ohio State career at defensive end, he could potentially also play defensive tackle for the Buckeyes.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\tDepth Chart Outlook<\/p>\n
\n\tWith a loaded group of defensive ends in 2026, including\u00a0Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Beau Atkinson, Zion Grady, Epi Sitanilei, Alabama transfer Qua Russaw and fellow freshmen Khary Wilder and Dre Quinn, McKinley isn\u2019t likely to see much playing time in year one.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tHow McKinley\u00a0develops over the course of his first couple of years in Columbus will determine whether he ultimately earns his way onto the defensive line two-deep in 2027 or 2028.\n<\/p>\n
\tPlayer Comparison: Tyreke Smith<\/p>\n
\n\tSmith was never the go-to defensive end for the Buckeyes during his four years in Columbus, but he continuously found ways to contribute.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter playing sparingly as a freshman, the 6-3, 260-pound defensive end notched 12 tackles (five TFL), three sacks and two pass deflections as a sophomore in 2019. He remained a constant in Ohio State\u2019s defensive end rotation as a junior and senior.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tIn his final season as a Buckeye in 2021, Smith recorded 26 tackles (five TFL), three sacks, two pass breakups and one forced fumble. He\u00a0was selected by the Seattle Seahawks\u00a0in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAt 6-foot-3 and 270 pounds, McKinley brings similar size and skills to the Buckeyes as Smith. Ohio State hopes he can carve out a similar career to Smith’s by playing a consistent role in the rotation later in his career before taking his talents to the NFL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Better Know A Buckeye is our look at every member of Ohio State\u2019s 2026 recruiting class and how…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":753092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-753091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=753091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/753092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=753091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=753091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=753091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}