McKinney Quickly Shows He’s a ‘Dude’

The Green Bay Packers gave safety Xavier McKinney a huge contract in free agency. Thus far, he’s been everything the Packers hoped for and more.

Packers safety Xavier McKinney will be the quarterback of the defense. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

GREEN BAY, Wis. – “He is a dude.”

That was Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur’s first impression of safety McKinney, an impression solidified through the offseason program and the start of OTAs.

“When he came here, when we signed him, when we went out to dinner together, I had a really good feel – just initial gut feel – that this is a dude,” LaFleur said at organized team activities last week. “And my experience with him up to this point is exactly that. He is a dude, and we’re fortunate to have him here.”

The Packers nuked their safety corps this offseason. Darnell Savage, Jonathan Owens and Rudy Ford, who combined for 30 starts and almost 2,000 snaps last season, were jettisoned in favor of McKinney – the team’s enormous free-agent addition – and draft picks Javon Bullard, Evan Williams and Kitan Oladapo.

The Packers gave McKinney a four-year contract worth $67 million to lead the new group by word and deed.

It’s a role he has embraced.

“I don’t really see any challenges,” McKinney said after practice. “It’s a part of what I do at this point. I’ve always been the leader, so it’s no different than what it is now. It’s obviously better. I don’t think it’s much of a challenge. Just making sure these guys are ready to go each and every day, but that’s something that I’m used to doing. I continue to get better, and these guys make me better at the same time. So, it’s been fun.”

It’s been fun from the team’s perspective, too. There’s always a bit of buyer beware in free agency because coaches and executives have little personal history with the players they’re courting. The talent is obvious on tape. But how will that player fit in the locker room?

In the case of McKinney, he’s matched – at least – the team’s hopes and expectations.

“Him and Ja(ire Alexander) are next to each other in the meetings,” defensive backs coach Ryan Downard said at the start of OTAs. “They compete, whether it’s in practice in the drills or in the strength and conditioning stuff, and he’s leading not only the safety group but the DB group as a whole with Ja. We need that. He helps the culture in the room, too, from the vantage point of toughness and practice habits and things like that.

“That is much needed and very much welcomed.”

McKinney is 101 days from playing in his first game for the Packers, but he’s already the team’s best safety since Nick Collins helped the team win the Super Bowl in 2010.

Last season for the Giants, McKinney recorded 116 tackles, three interceptions and 11 passes defensed. Savage, Ford and Owens combined for two interceptions and 10 passes defensed. Owens led the group with 74 tackles.

No Packers safety has had more than 10 passes defensed since Morgan Burnett had 11 in 2011.

“I call him ‘The Terminator,’” nickel defender and All-Pro returner Keisean Nixon said of McKinney.

On top of that, he’s one of the best tacklers in the NFL at the position. He should be an enormous upgrade from that perspective. Last year, McKinney had seven missed tackles in 1,128 snaps while Savage had 12 missed tackles in 558 snaps. From a tackles-per-miss perspective, McKinney had 16.6 tackles while Savage had 4.2 (and never better than 5.7).

“He’s got a natural feel to fit the run in the run game, and then he can blitz and he was a single-digit missed tackle guy,” Downard said. “He has been in his career, which to me, if you get a single-digit guy like that, he’s usually a pretty good tackler. Adrian (Amos) was actually that when he was brought in, as well.

“But X has all those different things. To me, what that does, is now if you have another piece that can function in multiple roles, then you don’t get cemented into just being a box guy or just a post guy if you have guys that can work together and do both jobs.”

A lot of work must be done between now and the team’s flight to Brazil to face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1. There’s a new defense to learn under coordinator Jeff Hafley. There are starting jobs to win and roles to fill. There are growing pains to work out.

McKinney likes what he sees, though, saying “the talent level in our room is out of this roof.” Whether it’s the rookies or second-year player Anthony Johnson, there is a lot to prove in order for the Packers to finally field a defense capable of winning a championship.

“I think we know what our goal is. We know what we want to accomplish,” McKinney said. “Obviously, I wasn’t here last year; they can speak on that more than I can. But, for me, I’m just coming in and helping anywhere that I can. Being that piece that I know they need me to be and also making the guys around me better.

“Like I said, we know what our end goal is, and I told the guys today, every day counts because we’re actually one of the first games to be played, which is a little earlier, and, obviously, it’s out of the country, so it’s going to be a big game. So, just kind of letting them know that we got to be prepared. We got to take these days seriously at OTAs, and we got to make sure we’re on our Ps and Qs come that moment.”

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