Raekwon McMillan

Raekwon McMillan (born November 17, 1995) is an American football linebacker for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins and has also played for the Las Vegas Raiders. He played college football at Ohio State.

Raekwon McMillan
refer to caption
McMillan in 2015
No. 50 – New England Patriots
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1995-11-17) November 17, 1995
Midway, Georgia, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:242 lb (110 kg)
Career information
High school:Liberty County (Hinesville, Georgia)
College:Ohio State (2014–2016)
NFL Draft:2017 / Round: 2 / Pick: 54
Career history
Roster status:Injured reserve
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 15, 2022
Total tackles:233
Sacks:1.0
Forced fumbles:3
Fumble recoveries:2
Pass deflections:3
Defensive touchdowns:1
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early years

McMillan was born in Midway, Georgia. He was named after rapper Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan.[1][2] He attended Liberty County High School in Hinesville, Georgia. He won the High School Butkus Award in 2013.[3] McMillan was a five-star recruit by Rivals.com and was the top-ranked inside linebacker in his class.[4]

College career

McMillan played college football at Ohio State. As a freshman in 2014, he appeared in 13 games making 54 tackles, 2.5 sacks, an interception returned for 24 yards, and a pass defended. As a sophomore in 2015, he played 13 games with 119 tackles, 1.5 sacks, four passes defended, and a fumble recovery. As a junior in 2016, he played 13 games with 102 tackles, two sacks, five passes defended, and two forced fumbles. After his junior year, McMillan declared his intentions to enter the 2017 NFL Draft.[5]

Professional career

McMillan received an invitation to the NFL Combine and completed all of the combine and positional drills. He also participated at Ohio State's highly anticipated pro day, but opted to only run positional drills.[6] Seven general managers and nine head coaches attended Ohio State's pro day to scout McMillan and ten other prospects.[7] McMillan had private workouts and visits with 11 teams that included the Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, and New Orleans Saints.[8][9][10][11] The majority of NFL draft experts and analysts projected McMillan to be selected in the second or third round.[12] He was ranked the second best inside linebacker in the draft by NFL analyst Bucky Brooks, the third best inside linebacker by NFLDraftScout.com, the fifth best linebacker by Sports Illustrated, and was ranked the tenth best linebacker in the draft by ESPN.[13][14][15]

External video
video icon Raekwon McMillan’s NFL Combine Workout
video icon Raekwon McMillan runs a 4.61 40-yard dash
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
6 ft 1+7⁄8 in
(1.88 m)		 240 lb
(109 kg)		 33 in
(0.84 m)		 9+3⁄4 in
(0.25 m)		4.61 s1.61 s2.69 s4.39 s7.15 s33 in
(0.84 m)		10 ft 1 in
(3.07 m)		23 reps
All values from NFL Combine[12][6][16]

2017

The Miami Dolphins selected McMillan in the second round (54th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.[17] He was the seventh linebacker selected in 2017.[18]

External video
video icon Dolphins draft Raekwon McMillan 54th overall

On May 5, 2017, the Miami Dolphins signed McMillan to a four-year, $4.69 million contract with $3.16 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.55 million.[19]

McMillan entered training camp slated as the starting strongside linebacker after Koa Misi retired due to a neck injury. He impressed coaching staff and learned all three linebacker positions. McMillan remained the apparent front-runner throughout camp, but saw minor competition from Mike Hull and Neville Hewitt.[20][21]

On August 10, 2017, McMillan made his professional debut in the Miami Dolphins’ first preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons, but left the game after suffering an apparent knee injury. The following day, it was confirmed that he had a torn an ACL and had abruptly ended his rookie season.[22] On September 2, 2017, the Miami Dolphins officially placed McMillan on injured reserve.[23]

2018

McMillan entered training camp slated as the de facto starting middle linebacker. Head coach Adam Gase named McMillan the starting middle linebacker to begin the regular season, along with outside linebackers Kiko Alonso and rookie Jerome Baker.[24] He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Miami Dolphins’ season-opener against the Tennessee Titans and recorded six combined tackles during their 27–20 victory.[25] On December 23, 2018, McMillan collected a season-high ten combined tackles (six solo) during the Dolphins’ 17–7 loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 16.[26] He started in all 16 games in 2018 and recorded 105 combined tackles (69 solo), two forced fumbles, and one pass deflection.[27]

2019

McMillan entered the 2019 season as the Dolphins starting middle linebacker. He played in 13 games before suffering a hamstring injury in Week 15. He was placed on injured reserve on December 17, 2019.[28]

Las Vegas Raiders

On August 29, 2020, McMillan was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders, along with a 2021 fifth-round draft pick, for a 2021 fourth-round draft pick, which they eventually re-acquired in a trade for Lynn Bowden[29]

New England Patriots

On March 19, 2021, McMillan signed with the New England Patriots.[30] He suffered a torn ACL in practice and was placed on injured reserve on August 7, 2021.[31][32] He signed a one-year contract extension through 2022 on September 27, 2021.[33]

McMillan entered the 2022 season as a starting linebacker alongside Ja'Whaun Bentley, but was relegated to special teams and a backup player as the season progressed. He finished the season with 35 tackles, one sack, and a fumble recovery touchdown.[34]

On March 10, 2023, McMillan signed a contract extension with the Patriots.[35] On May 25, it was announced that McMillan had suffered a partially torn Achilles tendon at OTAs and would be placed on season-ending injured reserve.[36] Despite the injury, McMillan signed a one–year, $2.25 million contract extension with the Patriots on August 14.[37]

References
  1. Muma, Steven (December 16, 2013). "5-star Raekwon McMillan announces commitment to Ohio State". SB Nation. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  2. Staples, Andy (January 27, 2014). "All-Name Team: Best monikers in the 2014 recruiting class". SI.com. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  3. Raekwon McMillan Wins High School Butkus Award Archived December 13, 2013, at archive.today
  4. Rivals.com
  5. "USA Today".
  6. "2017 Draft Scout Raekwon McMillan, Ohio State NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  7. Ben Axelrod (March 23, 2017). "Ohio State 2017 Pro Day: Results, updates and live blog for the Buckeyes' top prospects". landof10.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  8. D.J. Byrnes (March 16, 2017). "Skull Session: Gareon Conley's Rise, Patriots to Work Out Raekwon McMillan, and Dontre Wilson Cool with Taking His NFL Spot". elevenwarriors.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  9. K.D. Drummond (April 10, 2017). "2017 Draft: 7 Prospects the Saints are showing heavy interest in". saintswire.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  10. Kyle Phelps (March 18, 2017). "Bengals met privately with Ohio State linebacker Raekwon McMillan". cincyjungle.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  11. Luke Easterling (March 13, 2017). "Patriots, Steelers among 11 teams set to meet with Raekwon McMillan". draftwire.usatoday.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  12. "Raekwon McMillan Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  13. Chris Burke (April 24, 2017). "2017 NFL Draft Rankings: Top Prospects by Position". si.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  14. Jeff Legwold (April 22, 2017). "Ranking the 2017 Draft's Top 100 Prospects". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  15. Bucky Brooks (April 25, 2017). "Bucky Brooks' top 5 2017 NFL Draft prospects by position 3.0". NFL.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  16. "Raekwon McMillan 2017 NFL Draft Profile". insider.espn.com. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  17. "McMillan drafted by Dolphins in second round". Coastal Courier. April 28, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  18. "2017 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  19. "Spotrac.com: Raekwon McMillan contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  20. "Starting lineup, 53-man roster projections for all 32 NFL teams". ESPN.com. July 26, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  21. "Koa Misi Out; Raekwon McMillan The X-Factor". dolphinssidelinereport.com. July 26, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  22. Baumgard, Josh (August 11, 2017). "Raekwon McMillan suffers torn ACL, out for 2017 season". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  23. "Dolphins Make Roster Moves". MiamiDolphins.com. September 2, 2017. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018.
  24. Schad, Joe (September 4, 2018). "Miami Dolphins reveal regular-season depth chart and we learned this". PalmBeachPost.com. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  25. "Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins - September 9th, 2018". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  26. "Jacksonville Jaguars at Miami Dolphins - December 23rd, 2018". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  27. "Raekwon McMillan 2018 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  28. "Dolphins Sign Calvin Munson, Raekwon McMillan Placed On IR". MiamiDolphins.com. December 17, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  29. Bonsignore, Vincent (August 29, 2020). "Raiders trade for Dolphins linebacker Raekwon McMillan". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  30. "Patriots Sign DL Montravius Adams and LB Raekwon McMillan". Patriots.com. March 19, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  31. Reiss, Mike (August 7, 2021). "New England Patriots place linebacker Raekwon McMillan on injured reserve with torn ACL". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  32. "Patriots Re-Sign LB Cassh Maluia; Place TE Dalton Keene and LB Raekwon McMillan on Injured Reserve". Patriots.com. August 7, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  33. Thomas, Oliver (September 28, 2021). "Patriots reportedly sign injured linebacker Raekwon McMillan to one-year extension". PatsPulpit.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  34. "Raekwon McMillan 2022 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  35. Buchmasser, Bernd (March 10, 2023). "Report: Patriots re-sign linebacker Raekwon McMillan ahead of free agency". Pats Pulpit. SB Nation. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  36. Benjamin, Cody (May 25, 2023). "Patriots' Raekwon McMillan suffers Achilles injury at OTAs, set to miss entire 2023 season, per report". CBSSports.com. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  37. "Report: Injured Patriots LB Raekwon McMillan gets one-year extension". patriotswire.usatoday.com. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
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