#23

Verone McKinley III

Sophomore safety for Oregon. 2021: 6 interceptions, 6 pass breakups, 77 tackles.

S · Oregon · So. · #23

5′11″ · 196 lb · Carrollton, TX

CFB Index 95 · #2 of 509 safetiesMedium confidenceConsensus AAOregon 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

CB recruit

No. 404 nationally · Signed with Oregon

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

2 safety for Oregon. 2021: 6 interceptions, 6 pass breakups, 77 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Oregon in 2018.
Named All-America (AP) in 2021.
Named All-America (Consensus) in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Oregon, 167 tackles, an All-American season (2021) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20183 games

Signed with Oregon3-star out of Hebron

202113 games

The role got bigger.

All-Americafirst · 8 selectors
All-Pac-12First Team

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#404 national

CFB

College

Oregon

2018–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

8 honors · 2 categories

🏆

ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS

Consensus AA (2021)

6 first-team selectors

🥈

ALL-PAC-12 · 1ST TEAM

All-Pac-12 1st team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2021

2 coaches

2018–2020

Mario Cristobal

Oregon

2021

Bryan McClendon

Oregon

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Mario Cristobal → Bryan McClendon. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Oregon9-4HC: Mario Cristobal · Run-leaning

2019Oregon12-2HC: Mario Cristobal · Balanced

2020Oregon4-3HC: Mario Cristobal · Run-leaning

2021Oregon10-4HC: Bryan McClendon · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

95All-America level #2 of 509?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: interceptions (100th percentile). Strength: passes defended (94th percentile). Concern: sacks (24th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Interceptions#1 / 824 · 100th pct

Passes defended#136 / 2743 · 94th pct

Tackles#200 / 2743 · 93rd pct

Solo tackles#194 / 2743 · 93rd pct

Tackles for loss#1821 / 2743 · 28th pct

1.0

QB hurries#1413 / 2743 · 24th pct

Sacks#1435 / 2743 · 24th pct

0.0

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	6.1	0.1	0.0	0.1
Road6g	4.7	0.0	0.0	0.8

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	5.7	0.0	0.0	0.3
Weeks 8+7g	5.3	0.1	0.0	0.6

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Dan Lanning

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Consensus All-American

First team on a majority of the recognized selector lists.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

95 · #2 of 509 safeties

Three-star recruit. Now #2 at the position.

Selector Grid · 2021

AP—

FWAA—

AFCA—

WCFF1st

SN1st

SI—

Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Oregon	77	44	1.0	6	6	--
2020	Oregon	41	21	0.0	2	1	--
2019	Oregon	46	29	1.0	2	4	--
2018	Oregon	3	3	0.0	--	--	--
Career		167	97	2.0	10	11	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2021

W 35–28

at Ohio State

2 PD · 4 SOLO · 6 TOT

Edged out Ohio State on the road in a shootout.

With A. Brown — 236 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 77.5 · 65 rush yds (10 car) · T. Snee — 39 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 48 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 31-24vs Fresno State	8	4	0.0	—	0	Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 2	W 35-28@ Ohio State	6	4	0.0	1	2
Wk 3	W 48-7vs Stony Brook	3	2	0.0	2	0
Wk 4	W 41-19vs Arizona	6	4	0.0	1	0
Wk 5	L 24-31@ Stanford	4	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 24-17vs California	7	4	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 34-31@ UCLA	6	4	0.0	—	2
Wk 9	W 52-29vs Colorado	5	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 26-16@ Washington	5	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 38-24vs Washington State	8	5	0.0	1	0
Wk 12	L 7-38@ Utah	3	1	0.0	—	1
Wk 13	W 38-29vs Oregon State	6	5	1.0	—	1
Wk 14	L 10-38@ Utah	4	3	0.0	1	0
Total		71	43	1.0	6	6

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Verone McKinley III

20183 games

202113 games

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Consensus All-American

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Rover

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