Safety Xavier McKinny ‘enjoyed’ one of the steepest draft drops of any potential first-round draft pick in 2020. The NY Giants took full advantage of this by staying patient and landing the consensus best safety in the draft in round two. Does he have a shot to win defensive rookie of the year? Vegas thinks so.
NY Giants GM, Dave Gettleman, may have made his single most prudent move in the 2020 NFL Draft by reading what was going on in the draft and staying the course while hoping Xavier McKinney would fall in his lap at pick #36.
His riskiness paid off as that’s exactly what happened, and the NY giants landed the far and away consensus #1 safety in this year’s draft class. Many expected the Alabama Superstar to be drafted in the top twenty, if not even earlier.
Due to his draft pedigree, and the fact that the NY Giants have no options to challenge McKinney for the vacant free safety role (even though you can expect McKinney and Jabrill Peppers to mix it up between the two safety spots), the former Crimson Tide rookie is stepping into a golden situation to show what he can do and prove he can be a playmaker and leader on this defense.
Just a sneak peek into what Xavier McKinney is capable of doing -- he can rush the passer, defend the deep ball in the FS position, move up into a SS spot, and is one of the best tacklers coming out of the 2020 NFL Draft.
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) May 22, 2020
Absolute stud I have high expectations for. #GiantsPride pic.twitter.com/cZycPZJX2h
Mckinney was just a straight up playmaker at Alabama — there’s just no other way to describe it. The safety had 4 forced fumbles in 2019 alone (unheard of for a defensive back), another 2 in 2018 to go along with 6 sacks, 5 interceptions, and 15 passes defended over his last two college seasons.
Count in Fanduelsportsbook.com among those that think the 2019 SEC First-Team All-American has a legit shot to bring home the defensive rookie of the year award. Despite being the 14th defensive player drafted overall, McKinney is in a three-way tie for 7th in terms of best odds to bring home the award.
Mckinney is currently tied with former SEC rival and also free safety, Grant Delpit at +2500. In other words, if you plopped down $100 on the G-Men rookie, you’d bring home $2600 total for a $2500 profit. Chase Young (+350) is the clear favorite with Isaiah Simmons not too far behind at +850, but after those two upper-echelon rookies, the odds drop dramatically.
In other words, Mckinney has a real shot to compete for this award.
While awards don’t mean a whole lot long term, it would surely be an awesome piece of moral – something the type hasn’t enjoyed much of in recent years.
High praise from former NFL vet:
Xavier McKinney was on the right side from some very positive words from a respected NFL vet that has now transitioned into the media world with CBSSports.com. Analyst Bryant McFadden (no relation to Darren McFadden) seems extremely pumped when it to what Mckinney can bring to the NY Giants right out of the gates.
Now, before you claim some sort of bias…McFadden played at Florida State who isn’t exactly on the best terms with the SEC.
Watch out, #NYGiants fans. @mckinney15__ 's gonna have a historic year.@Giants | @CBSSportsHQ pic.twitter.com/AjJL2E6Cjv
— Bryant McFadden (@BMac_SportsTalk) May 18, 2020
Man, if that doesn’t get you fired up about Xavier McKinney then I don’t know what will! While a defensive rookie of the year would be fantastic, McFadden didn’t stop there by predicting he’d make an All-Pro team.
We can only hope he’s right, as McKinney looks to be as close to a can’t miss player as you could possibly have.