The New York Giants’ 2020 draft class contains some excellent young talent beginning with their first selection, Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas, and ending with the 15 undrafted free agents they signed after draft.
Of the 25 players the Giants laid claim to the past several days, there is one in particular that stands out.
Alabama safety Xavier McKinney, who the Giants selected with the 36th overall pick, could end up being the steal of the draft, reminiscent of another Tide safety the Giants stole in the draft several years ago in Round 2, Landon Collins.
Many pundits, such as ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., have pointed out that the Giants got quite the bargain on McKinney, the first safety to come off the board in this year’s draft.
“Xavier McKinney has Pro Bowl potential,” Kiper wrote Monday. “There were teams looking at him in the 20s, but he lasted until the second round. He’s a good fit next to Jabrill Peppers.”
“In 41 career games with 28 starts in Tuscaloosa, McKinney recorded 176 tackles (13 TFL), six sacks, five forced fumbles, 20 pass breakups, and five interceptions,” wrote NJ.com’s Matt Lombardo. “It was easy to see the potential the Giants identified in McKinney and the ceiling Kiper has tor the Alabama alum.”
The Giants were about to trade back in the second round last Friday night but stopped short when they saw that McKinney was steal on the board.
“We had made up our mind that if Xavier fell to us, we were taking him,” Giants general manager Dave Gettleman said. “So, we did have something. If Xavier had been gone, we did have a team willing to move up and we would’ve moved back. But we felt the value of getting Xavier there was just too good to pass up.
“We had Xavier rated, we had a first-round value on him, and we’re absolutely thrilled to get him. He’s a great kid, he’s smart, he plays smart, he lines up the backend for us, he’s versatile, you can put him down low, he can cover tight ends, he’s got ball skills, and he’s a good tackler. So, we’re excited and just feel we’ve got a real quality person and player in this second round pick.”
The Giants had a glaring need at safety coming into the draft. Peppers is coming off a fractured bone in his lower back that ended his season in late November and the Giants recently released 35-year-old Antoine Bethea, their leading tackler last year, leaving the very green Julian Love as their only healthy starter at the position.
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