With the 36th pick in the 2020 NFL draft the New York Giants selected Xavier McKinney from the university of Alabama.
Statistics
Xavier McKinney is a 6 foot 1, 200 pound defensive back. He played 13 games last season. In those 13 games he had 95 tackles (5.5 tackles for loss) and 3 interceptions, including a pick 6. These stats helped him earn a spot on the first team all SEC. This resume led to a lot of pre-draft hype. NFL.com and CBS sports had McKinney being drafted in the middle of the first round. However, Giants were able to steal him in the 2nd round. Andrew Thomas was the first round pick and will have the most hype but I believe McKinney will end up being the best.
The Giants logged onto the draft with two big needs, o-line and defense. In 2019 the Giants o-line was ranked 25th and their defense was ranked 30th. The Giants chose Andrew Thomas with the 4th overall pick to help fix the o-line. The Giants felt the talent at defense in the 2nd round would be better than the talent in the o-line. They were 100 percent right because McKinney fell to them in the 2nd round. McKinney is a first round talent that fell to the 2nd round. He will provide immediate help to what was one of the worst defenses last year.
Strengths
One of the biggest strengths of McKinney is his ability to keep the play in front of him. His gifts of good speed and good vision help him prevent receivers from getting past him. The biggest weakness i’ve seen in him is that he needs a bit more strength. Of course he hasn’t even step foot in an NFL weight room yet. They can easily bulk him up. If this is the biggest weakness in your 2nd round pick you got a steal. Until he bulks up he’ll make up for his thinner frame with his toughness.
Predictions
My prediction for his future is that he’ll be a multiple time pro-bowler. He’s got a lot of natural skill and the mentality to be great. For this year I think he’ll make his mark on the NFL. I don’t think he’ll be a rookie pro bowler but I think he’ll make some big plays and make sure people know his name. The last time the Giants had a great defense was in 2016. It may not seem like that long ago. However, pretty much every defender from the 2016 Giants defense is gone. McKinney is going to help usher in a new era in the Giants defense.
To summarize I predict the pick of McKinney is going to be a very good pick for the Giants. Overall the Giants did a very good job of filling in all their needs in this draft. All the lights will be on first round pick Andrew Thomas but don’t sleep on McKinney. I think he’ll be a good player from the jump and only get better from there. I hope McKinney and the rest of the Giants picks have long and successful careers.
