5 people to blame for the NY Giants current, awful state

3. DB Xavier McKinney

The New York Giants have 10 captains this season, which is obviously excessive. Of the 10, McKinney has been the worst on and off the field. On the field, McKinney has missed multiple tackles this season and seemingly given poor tackling effort. As a captain, you must always show max effort, which he has not done.

The minimum threshold to be considered a starting caliber player by PFF's standard is a 70, and McKinney's overall defensive grade for 2023 is currently 69.7. His run defense, tackling, and pass rush grades are also all below 70, and his coverage grade (72.6) is just above.

This offseason, many wondered if Schoen would extend McKinney, A free agent this offseason. The Alabama product had a productive first two seasons in the NFL, including a six-pick 2021 campaign, but struggled last year and suffered a serious hand injury in an ATV accident during the Giants bye week, which was a terrible look. His slow start to 2023 has many wondering if New York will even offer him an extension this offseason, which would have been a wild thought to ponder after 2021 when he was looked at as a franchise safety.

After Sunday's game, McKinney torched FOX NFL Analyst Johnathan Vilma for criticizing him. He also told reporters to stop blaming the defense, which deserves a lot of blame for playing poorly but not all the blame. Regardless, leaders don't talk like that. Talkin' Giants Bobby Skinner sounded off on McKinney on Twitter for that.