Alabama safety Xavier McKinney Selected 36th in 2020 NFL Draft

After leading the Crimson Tide in tackles last season, safety Xavier McKinney has a new home in the NFL
Alabama safety Xavier McKinney Selected 36th in 2020 NFL Draft
Alabama safety Xavier McKinney Selected 36th in 2020 NFL Draft /

One of the best moments in the build up to the 2020 NFL Draft was when former Alabama safety Xavier McKinney called out Mel Kiper Jr.

The EPSN analyst had McKinney rated as the best safety in the draft, but for a while didn't project him to be a be a high pick. McKinney asked why on SportsCenter. 

Apparently the New York Giants agreed and selected McKinney with the 36th-overall selection. 

It was a little surprising that McKinney didn't go in the first round, but that's the nature of his position. Safeties rarely go that high any more. 

Kevin Hanson of Sports Illustrated listed McKinney as the No. 26 prospect in his final Big Board rankings.

He wrote: "An instinctive and versatile defender, McKinney has the skill set to play either safety spot and has no glaring weaknesses when it comes to coverage or run defense. A fluid mover with excellent range, the junior safety tied for the team lead in interceptions (three) in 2019."

"When you look at McKinney, he's still the best safety," Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network said. "[He] did not run as well as you would have hoped [at the NFL combine], and they play him a lot more  down close to the line of scrimmage. 

"I have a big grade on him. I like him, but I think there's a chance he could drift a little bit, and I think teams are saying they kind of like this next wave of safeties that would be there, so if you passed on one in the first round, you come back and I think there's a thought that Grant Delpit, Jeremy Chinn, Antoine Winfield, Kyle Dugger, Ashtyn Davis, there's some depth there, so I think that could cause that run to happen more so in the second round. 

McKinney was a third-team Associated Press All-American and first-team All-SEC safety last season. He led the Crimson Tide defense with 95 tackles (5.5 for loss, three sacks) and finished among the national leaders with four forced fumbles. 

He also intercepted three passes, broke up five others and blocked a kick. 

Recruited out of Roswell, Ga., where McKinney was named the state Class 7A Defensive Player of the Year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, McKinney worked his way on to the field as a true freshman both as a reserve defensive back and special-teams player.

He grabbed a starting role as a sophomore, making 73 tackles, including six for loss and three sacks, with two interceptions and 10 pass breakups. McKinney was named the Defensive MVP of the Orange Bowl with five tackles and four pass breakups against Oklahoma, and he returned an interception for a touchdown in both 2018 and 2019. 


Published
Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.