Film Room | What Xavier McKinney Brings to the Table

What skills does the Giants' second-round pick Xavier McKinney bring to New York?

With the 36th pick in the 2020 NFL draft, the Giants added a versatile, smart, safety that will play many different positions for new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. 

During Dave Gettleman and Joe Judge’s conference call after the selection, they mentioned how they had a trade partner for the 36th pick, but wanted to see the fate of McKinney; since he was obviously still available. 

The Giants stuck to their board and selected the former Crimson Tide leader. Nick Saban entrusted McKinney with so many different roles because he felt McKinney had the football IQ and character to handle an immense workload. 

McKinney did not disappoint. He was second Team All-American and 1st Team All-SEC, and he led the Crimson Tide in tackles with 95, while playing all over the defense. 

It’s hard to really knock McKinney's game, he’s good at almost everything. He’s not an elite athlete, his range isn’t the best in the class, and he may struggle against shiftier receivers in the slot, but he’s still a very smart player, who is rarely out of position.

Alabama safety Xavier McKinney is a baller. Active and all he does is make plays. pic.twitter.com/0Mz2XtlcOX

— Jordan Reid (@Jordan_Reid) January 30, 2020

The tweet above is from The Draft Network’s Jordan Reid, who I had on Big Blue Banter. Watch McKinney excel near the line of scrimmage, with explosive acceleration coming downhill, while also acting as a solid man coverage defender against tight ends. 

McKinney shows good ball skills, he gets his head around and locates while bringing a disruptive nature to the catch-point. His hips aren’t a liability whatsoever, which is evident in the clip where McKinney carries the tight end up the seam and makes the acrobatic interception. 

We also see him be an effective blitzer off the edge and through the interior gaps; Saban trusted him in this role, and he did it well for the Crimson Tide. He's excellent with his run fits and brings a lot of physicality near the line of scrimmage; has a good tackle radius and executes good tackling mechanics in close spaces. 

McKinney is more susceptible to missing tackles when he’s coming down from a single high alignment. Look at the variety of ways Saban employed McKinney in Jordan’s tweet. I expect Patrick Graham to do something similar with him, Julian Love, and Jabrill Peppers.

The tweet above is from @AlabamaDieHards, and it just shows McKinney’s positioning to make a good interception, against an inferior opponent. 

McKinney made a lot of plays on the ball at Alabama though; he had 20 passes defensed and 5 interceptions, and he could have had a lot more. If COVID-19 wasn't around and the NFL wasn't in a truncated pre-draft, then McKinney probably would have been able to retest his poor 4.64 40 time at Alabama's pro-day. 

If McKinney ran a 4.49 or even a 4.55, he may have come off the board in the first round. It's not the craziest thought, given McKinney's unique skill-set. I love the versatility, intelligence, and physicality of McKinney and I feel Giants fans will love him too. 

Gettleman and Judge had a first-round grade on McKinney for a reason and they must be ecstatic that he fell to them at 36.