Mac McWilliams heard it a lot during his pre-draft process. Heck, he’s heard it his whole life.
You don’t have to tell him. He knows he’s undersized.
“I try really not to think about it,” McWilliams said on Friday as the Eagles kicked off their rookie minicamp at the NovaCare Complex. “I go out there with the same mindset. I’m the biggest out there. That’s how I feel. So just having that mindset, I really feel like it takes me (far).”
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SIGN UP HERE The Eagles used a fifth-round pick (No. 145 overall) on McWilliams a week ago on Day 3 of the NFL draft. After McWilliams began his career at UAB, he transferred to UCF in 2024 and had a strong enough season to get drafted. And he’s been undersized the whole time.
McWilliams, 23, is listed at 5-foot-10, 191 pounds. He also has short arms (29 7/8) and small hands (8 3/8). Among defensive backs, McWilliams’ weight is in the 27th percentile, his height in the 21st, his arms in the 6th and his hands in the 4th.
But he’s the biggest guy on the field.
At least that’s what he tells himself.
“Since I was little,” McWilliams said. “I have always been the littlest guy so just having the right mindset, taking everything for what it is. All my life I knew I was going to be undersized. I knew I wasn’t going to grow as much as I wanted to. Just always having that dog in me. Just thinking above, never thinking too low.”
Because of his stature, many have projected McWilliams to be a nickel cornerback in the NFL instead of an outside cornerback, where his lack of length might be a hindrance. But McWilliams played outside and inside during his college career and even showed the ability to do both during his week at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
McWilliams said in his first walkthrough as an Eagle, he lined up as an outside cornerback. But he’s looking forward to getting snaps inside as well.
“I wouldn’t say one was harder,” McWilliams said. “At the nickel position, it’s just a little more thinking because you have to run support and different gap schemes and things like that. That’s really the main thing.”
McWilliams was one of 10 Eagles draft picks in 2025 and one of eight picks taken on Day 3. He got a chance to take the field for the first time as an Eagle on Friday afternoon at rookie camp in his new No. 22 jersey. McWilliams wore 20 and 15 in college and both of those numbers are retired in Philly. So McWilliams is wearing the No. 22 after Kelee Ringo elected to switch to No. 7 this offseason.
While McWilliams said he was a bit anxious ahead of his first rookie camp practice, he was also happy to be back on a football field actually playing football. Since his final college season ended, he had been training for the Combine and the pre-draft process. Now, he’s back playing corner. And eventually nickel.
As for his position, he’s happy to do whatever the Eagles want.
“Whatever the team needs,” he said. “Whether it’s special teams, whether it’s offense, defense, anything. Whatever the team needs. Having them vet guys here, talking to me, getting me a little bit of knowledge. I’m just soaking it all in.”