Draft Prospect Preview | S Xavier McKinney, Alabama

Might the Giants be in the market for another safety?

David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Xavier McKinney 

Height: 6-foot 1
Weight: 200 lbs
Grade: Junior
School: Alabama

Xavier McKinney is a safety, originally from Roswell, Georgia. He attended Roswell High School. McKinney was a four-star recruit coming out of high school, and committed to play football at Alabama in January of 2017. According to Rivals.com, he had offers from 13 Division I schools.

LSU safety Grant Delpit won the Jim Thorpe Award last season, the honor given to the top defensive back in college football every year. Many of the early mock drafts have him as the first safety taken off the board in April. However, McKinney is also going to get plenty of attention from teams looking for a defensive back in the first round.

During his three years at Alabama, McKinney showed that he is a versatile safety who can make his presence known all over the field. He’s coming off an outstanding junior season, in which he had 95 total tackles (5.5 tackles for loss), three sacks, three interceptions, four forced fumbles and five passes defended. 

McKinney’s best game of the year came against Western Carolina, as he had a forced fumble and two interceptions, including a pick-six. He recorded 10 total tackles and had one sack during Alabama’s 35-16 win over Michigan in the Citrus Bowl. McKinney was a first-team All-SEC selection for the 2019 season.

McKinney only played in five games during his freshman season, as he was mainly used as a backup. He got the chance to start as a sophomore, and immediately had an impact on Nick Saban’s defense. 

During his sophomore season, McKinney had 74 total tackles, three sacks, 10 passes defended, two interceptions and two forced fumbles. He recorded five total tackles and had four passes defended in Alabama’s 45-34 win over Oklahoma in the 2018 Orange Bowl. He was named the defensive MVP of that game.

Given his size, physicality, and versatility, it’s easy to see why McKinney is rated as one of the top safeties in this year’s draft class. He’s the type of player who can immediately have an impact on an NFL defense. It would not be overly surprising if McKinney ends up getting selected before Delpit.

Why He’s a Fit

One of the reasons that McKinney could be so valuable to an NFL team is that he can be utilized as either a strong or a free safety. Throughout his playing career at Alabama, he mainly played strong safety but also moved to free safety in certain situations. McKinney’s versatility increases his worth to a defense, which is why he would be a decent fit for the Giants.

Antoine Bethea was the Giants’ starting free safety last season, but he did not really have much of an impact on their secondary. There’s a chance that Giants’ general manager Dave Gettleman will decide to move on from Bethea in order to save cap space. If Bethea does end up getting cut, the Giants will need to figure out who will replace him. McKinney is an interesting candidate, especially considering that Gettleman could trade back in the first round of the draft and probably still end up with him.

The Giants would have three talented, young safeties if they decide to draft McKinney. New defensive coordinator Patrick Graham would then have the opportunity to rotate between Jabrill Peppers and McKinney at strong safety, and McKinney and Julian Love at free safety. Love had 37 total tackles, an interception, and one forced fumble during his rookie season. He’s expected to take on a larger role in the Giants’ secondary in 2020.

Gettleman has a lot of work to do in order to rebuild his defense, and bolstering the secondary is a critical part of this task. There are plenty of areas that he must address this offseason, but the secondary should be one of his top priorities. 

The Giants’ defense allowed an average of 264.1 passing yards per game in 2019, which was 28th in the NFL. McKinney could be a valuable piece for the Giants, as he’s a guy who can have an impact on the front and the back of the secondary. If Gettleman wants to take a defensive back in the first round of the draft, he should strongly consider this talented Alabama safety.