Dominick McKinley's power stands out as LSU begins fall camp

LSU head coach Brian Kelly didn’t even need to wait until fall camp to know how Dominick McKinley was going to look on the field this year. The Tigers’ sophomore defensive tackle was already taking the weight room by storm and solidifying himself as one of the strongest players on the team with the highest potential of any defensive lineman.

“We ran out of weights for him to max squat,” Kelly said. “It’s a 650 pound max squat. I throw that out to you to show how powerful he is. He’s such a great kid. He’s grounded every single day and he has elite strength and he’s going to play a major role in what we do. He’s still learning. Coach Williams is on his hip every single day, but he’s enjoyable to coach.”

Now, with fall camp underway, McKinley gets to show the power and strength behind his motor and is wasting no time getting into the backfield and making plays. Coming off of a promising spring, the former five-star from The Boot is back and ready to take the leap forward this season on the interior of this defensive line. He and new defensive line coach Kyle Williams have been hard at work to get McKinley ready, and all signs point to a strong season.

McKinley ranks as the No. 12 player on LSU’s roster

*Full writeup from Bengal Tiger Top 40 players series

Bengal Tiger rankings

Brune: 11 / Subscribers: 10

2024 recap

“As a true freshman, McKinley came in with ample expectations as a five-star defensive tackle from within the state. He played in ten games and ended with just seven tackles, but three were sacks and he continued to flash his combination of strength and quickness that made him an elite prospect. He was good against Oklahoma with four tackles and two sacks, to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors and it started to all come together for him as the year went on.” – Brune

2025 outlook

“LSU once again changed defensive line coaches, but this time to a Louisiana guy in Kyle Williams who is looking to get the most out of McKinley this year. He’s an unproven player, but someone LSU absolutely needs to be playing at a high level for this defensive front to be formidable. I believe there’s enough talent and toughness here for him to thrive within Blake Bakers’ defense. As a versatile defensive tackle, I think he can attack most guards and force double teams which would be huge for the rest of this defense to open up and allow their speed to pursue the ball. McKinley looked to be in great shape in the spring as the defensive line mostly won up front. I expect a huge season from the true sophomore and he should be the best defensive tackle on this roster.” – Brune