Former Auburn star linebacker Zakoby McClain puts NFL teams on notice

Former Auburn star linebacker Zakoby McClain surprisingly went undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft. The past few seasons, he established himself as one of the nation’s premiere linebackers and the Valdosta, Georgia native piled up the stats to prove it. Even though he signed an undrafted free agent contract following the draft with the Baltimore Ravens, McClain still feels disrespected from all the franchises that decided to pass on him.

On Sunday evening, he took to Twitter to let teams across the NFL know, “They gonna wish they never slept on me.”

This season, he nearly became the first Auburn linebacker to record 100 tackles in back-to-back seasons since Takeo Spikes did it in 1996-1997. McClain earned second team All-SEC honors after racking up 95 tackles, eight tackles for loss, six pass breakups, and two sacks.

In 2020, McClain was virtually unblockable–racking up 113 tackles for the season, leading the nation. He tallied 17 tackles against Texas A&M, his career-best in a game, and the most by an Auburn player since 2012. A former U.S. Army All-American bowl game participant, McClain has lived up to his four-star rating coming out of high school and then some.

In his highly decorated Auburn Tiger career, the 6-foot, 219-pound linebacker racked up 267 total tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and one interception. The most memorable play of his career was a 100-yard pick six of Alabama’s Mac Jones in the 2019 Iron Bowl.

Simply put, you’d be hard pressed to find a linebacker who was more productive on the field than the former Auburn star and McClain has every right to feel slighted. Every year it’s pretty surprising how many highly, highly productive college stars go undrafted.

According to the On3 Consensus Rankings for the 2018 class, McClain was ranked as the No. 22 linebacker in America and a four-star prospect.

Blessed with tremendous sideline to sideline speed and phenomenal tackling instincts, it’s going to be exciting to watch McClain’s career grow in the coming years.