Mount McKinnie: with his enourmous size, athletic ability, signature `reach' move and upside, Miami left tackle Bryant McKinnie could set a new standard for NFLoffensive linemen

Clothes are strewn across the floor. Bud Light is in the fridge. Burglar bars are on the windows. And, oh yeah, the Outland Trophy sits on a wobbly TV stand, in a place where someone might drop his keys.

It's fitting this is the home of Miami left tackle Bryant McKinnie. In two years, McKinnie went from a humble unknown to the Outland winner and one of the best offensive line prospects ever.

Ask scouts about McKinnie, and they first talk about his size. And then how his athletic, yet devastating play in no way reflects it. In the early '90s, Dallas ushered in the era of big offensive lines, and McKinnie is a natural extension of bigger is better. In a league full of linemen who are Chevy Blazers, McKinnie is a Ford Expedition. Today's standard for a big lineman is roughly 6-6, 325 pounds. At the scouting combine in Indianapolis, McKinnie participated in some drills and was measured at 6-8, 343.

"Genetically, he's just such a rare individual," says Bills general manager Tom Donahoe. "With his size, he can really be as good as he wants to be."

"I could coach the rest of my life and not see someone do the things he does," says University of Miami offensive line coach Art Kehoe.

But what gets scouts really excited is that he has played only six years of organized football--and just four as an offensive lineman. With two years of high school football (as a defensive end), two years of junior college and two years at Miami, he is like the 7-foot soccer player from overseas who started playing basketball at age 18.

"His upside is tremendous," says an NFC West scout. "He's got the physical skills to be one of the best ever. He's really raw in terms of technique, but he could be as good or better than Orlando Pace and Jonathan Ogden. Because he picked up football late, his potential, while undefined, is exciting."

On this February evening, McKinnie, 22, is sitting in--no, occupying--the kitchen in his Coral Gables, Fla., rental house. His hair is in tight cornrows and a scruffy goatee roams across his chin. He is wearing shower shoes, shorts and a T-shirt with the words, "PHAT ROOM."

McKinnie--also known as Big Mac or Mount McKinnie--is gearing up for a night at Monty's, a waterfront bar and restaurant in Coconut Grove. But now a couple of teammates are sitting on the sofa, remembering--no laughing--about the ease with which the Hurricanes dispatched Nebraska in the Rose Bowl in winning the national championship.

Guard Ed Wilkins: "I really thought they were going to be better than they were."

McKinnie: "I thought they were going to be big and fast, but they weren't fast. All they must do is push lawn mowers."

Wilkins: "We knew they were scared. At Disneyland, they just stood there watching us."

McKinnie: "They were always looking like they were scared."

McKinnie is an eager, quick talker, which is what most would expect from a star on a Miami national championship team. But the truth is, McKinnie's on-field personality was one reason Miami became a championship team most could like. He often told teammates to stop taunting and jawing. Why talk when you're holding the shovel, having just buried the man in front of you?

If recent history is any indication, McKinnie will be burying plenty of defensive linemen in the years to come.

Despite the lingering memory of super bust Tony Mandarich, no position over the last decade has a better track record with high picks than offensive tackle. Of the 15 players drafted in the top 10 as offensive tackles since 1990--the year after Mandarich was selected second overall by Green Bay--only one could be considered a bust (Charles McRae, seventh overall, Tampa Bay, 1991). Nine of the 15 have played in the Pro Bowl and several--Richmond Webb, Willie Roaf, Tony Boselli, Ogden and Pace--could make a run at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

When compared with the five top-of-the-line tackles, McKinnie is bigger than all, though Ogden (6-8, 340) is only a few pounds lighter. Asked where he wants to go, McKinnie simply says, "I want to go No. 1."

Because the Texans already have Boselli to play left tackle, they won't take McKinnie with the top overall pick. There are strong indications they will select Fresno State quarterback David Carr, though it's possible they could trade down. Carolina, drafting second, is looking hard at North Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers. Detroit took a left tackle in the first round last year (Jeff Backus) and is looking to trade down from the third spot. Buffalo, at No. 4, and San Diego, at No. 5, need help in the offensive line, and either could try to move up for McKinnie or hope he falls.

The only real question about McKinnie is his lack of experience, which has become something of a folk tale. Because he was so big--130 pounds in third grade--he wasn't allowed to play youth football. At Woodbury (N.J.) High School, he played some as a freshman, then quit the team after a dispute with the coach and wound up playing the bass drum in the marching band. He came back his junior year as a 6-6 end and put together two solid years on the defensive line--experience that McKinnie says helps him on the other side of the ball.