Nate McBride, who is rated as the nation’s No. 1 inside linebacker for next year, is already as fast as UGA Heisman Trophy candidate Nick Chubb was in high school.

McBride, the junior linebacker from Vidalia High School, has already been laser-timed at 10.68 seconds in the 100 and at 21.6 seconds in the 200 — compared to Chubb’s top times of 10.6 and 21.8 seconds.

McBride has got those kind of wheels, plus the grit of being the son of a longtime high school assistant coach with a defensive background. Recruiters drool over that. The five-star prospect is rated as the No. 1 inside linebacker for 2017 according to Rivals, along with the nation’s No. 10 overall prospect.

The junior has lost a little bit of weight. The casts he has on both arms have something to do with that. His father Jason McBride said that it is his “Edward Scissorhands” look.

That’s because the 6-foot-2, 215-pounder did something that a kid with a 3.9 grade-point average isn’t usually prone to do. Blame the competitor in him for that. McBride punched a wall at the Rivals 5-Star Challenge earlier this year. That broke a bone in his left hand. That came after the nation’s No. 1 tight end got the best of him in 7-on-7 competition.  That was major UGA target Isaac Nauta.

“His (Nauta’s) moves are like no other,” McBride said. “He’s smooth however he does it.”

He also broke his right wrist after falling asleep on a dirt road on the way to his house after practice one night. McBride discussed the following topics in the above video interview with the AJC’s DawgNation.com.

  • How did he wind up with casts on both arms?
  • When can he return to the field?
  • When does he plan to make his college decision?
  • Which college coach calls him “Big Nate” all the time?
  • What West Coast school has really caught his eye?
  • Which current UGA player really made an impression on him?

 

He told DawgNation.com that he has a good relationship with Alabama defensive cooridnator Kirby Smart. He said that program will “be in it until the end” with his recruiting. McBride said that UGA continues to recruit him hard and he’s quite fond of linebackers coach Mike Ekeler.

“He’s ready to go and ready to teach and get in somebody’s grill and make them better,” McBride said. “That’s what I like.”

Jeff Sentell covers UGA recruiting for AJC.com and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on who’s on their way to play Between the Hedges.