Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney has impressed just about everyone in the organization as a player and leader in the two months since signing as a free agent, but he’s also been impressed with the collection of players around him in the defensive secondary.
Asked who has stood out to him so far in the offseason workout program, McKinney said “all of them.”
“I’d like to say this is the best group I’ve been a part of since I’ve been in the league, and that’s from me to the whoever the last person is, doesn’t matter. Everyone has done a great job,” McKinney said Tuesday. “I think the talent level in our room is out of this roof. It’s going to be fun to play with these guys because everyone is smart. We’re all working off each other and build off each other and compete with each other to make each other better.”
McKinney is the key piece of the rebuild at safety, but the Packers also added three draft picks — second-rounder Javon Bullard, fourth-rounder Evan Williams and fifth-round Kitan Oladapo — and returned six cornerbacks or safeties who have started games for the team in the past two seasons.
McKinney and cornerback Jaire Alexander are difference-makers. Eric Stokes is a former first-round pick. Keisean Nixon was the team’s go-to starter in the slot. Carrington Valentine and Anthony Johnson Jr., two seventh-round picks from last year, return after starting games in 2023. Corey Ballentine is back after flashing in a starting role last season. Bullard can play safety or slot. Williams and Oladapo are interchangeable. Even seventh-round pick Kalen King has a chance to make the roster and contribute at corner.
McKinney said the young players, especially at safety, are constantly picking his brain.
“They’ve been picking my brain a lot. It’s been good though. I’ve been letting them know small things they haven’t seen before,” McKinney said.
Hear more from McKinney below: