Ravens' gamble on Bryant McKinnie paid off

The Bears were questioned last season for not picking up massive tackle Bryant McKinnie after he was let go by the Minnesota Vikings. McKinnie went on to have a superb season as Baltimore’s left tackle, so the easy blast was that the Bears failed to grab a huge (literally) upgrade for their offensive line.

It’s not that simple. At the time it struck me as telling that Mike Tice, who was the Vikings head coach when they drafted McKinnie in Minnesota, wasn’t pounding the table to grab McKinnie again.

And a longtime NFC pro personnel executive said that McKinnie pulled himself together in Baltimore only after getting whacked in Minnesota and finding only sparse interest in the market initially. My source said flat out that he wouldn’t have taken a flyer on McKinnie.

The Ravens scored with the gamble on McKinnie, who was fat, a character risk, and had been sliding precipitously over the past couple of seasons. But the Bears, with a coach who knew him well, weren’t the only ones who passed.


(csnchiago.com)