Kool-Aid McKinstry has grown into one of college football’s better cornerbacks during his time with Alabama football. The Birmingham native has faced off against some of the SEC’s top wideouts and held his own enough to earn all-SEC honors ahead of the 2023 season.

Much of that came from practicing against the Crimson Tide’s own stable of receivers. On Wednesday at SEC Media Days, the cornerback was asked which teammates were the beset he had faced.

“Well, I could say I faced a lot of guys that were pretty good that wasn’t on my team,” McKinstry said. “But I feel like I face some of the best guys playing around on my team like (Jameson Williams), guys like (John) Metchie because those guys are just different.”

McKinstry is entering his third season in Tuscaloosa after joining the Tide as a five-star prospect from Pinson Valley. He overlapped with both Williams and Metchie in 2021.

That season, Metchie went for 1,142 yards on 96 catches with eight touchdowns before his Alabama career ended with an injury in the SEC title game.

Williams transferred into Alabama from Ohio State before that 2021 season and went off for 79 catches, 1,572 yards and 15 touchdowns. According to McKinstry, facing both of those two as a freshman was key to his development.

“I was so young,” the cornerback said. “Me having an opportunity to check Jamo as a freshman and Metchie as a freshman, it was very big to me.”

To this day, McKinstry said his offensive teammates keep him at his best.

“I love going against all of them,” he said. “They are all different. By all them being different, it’s better than me working on this because this guy might be better at this, that guy might be better at that. I think every play is helping my game get better. I’m very thankful for those guys.”

More from SEC Media Days: Nick Saban talks Tony Mitchell and giving second chances