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2020 Draft Profile: Alabama S Xavier McKinney 'should be effective in multiple roles'

Alabama S Xavier McKinney

2019 stats: 13 games, 95 tackles (59 solo), 3.0 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, three interceptions, one touchdown, five passes defended

Height / Weight: 6'0" / 201 lbs

Accolades: First-Team All-SEC (2019)

2020 NFL Draft prospect rankings: Daniel Jeremiah's Top 50 - #18

Giants current depth at S: Jabrill Peppers, Sean Chandler

NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah: McKinney was an instinctive safety for the Tide and he also spent some time playing nickel linebacker. When aligned deep, he is fluid in his movement and he's quick to key/read and drive on the football. His range is excellent. While he can effectively locate the ball, he will occasionally lose a 50/50 battle down the field. He is a dependable wrap/drag tackler. He has a very good feel as a blitzer, displaying timing and burst. Overall, McKinney is an intelligent, versatile defender and he should be very effective in multiple roles.

View photos of former Alabama S Xavier McKinney.

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein: Ascending safety prospect offering a combination of plus athleticism, field awareness and versatility. McKinney split time equally at slot, free safety and in the box and is accomplished in each. His coverage instincts, athleticism and quick-twitch burst are more cornerback than safety, which is why he's likely to be a coveted toy for teams looking to upgrade and diversify their sub-packages. He can sit in center field all day if needed, and he's an adequate open-field tackler but has room for improvement in that area. McKinney represents the new breed of versatile, matchup safety with high upside as an early starter.

ESPN's Mel Kiper: I have a new No. 1 safety in the 2020 class, and it's McKinney, who was on my preseason Big Board after he outplayed fourth-round pick Deionte Thompson over the second half of 2018. I dropped McKinney out of the top 25 early in the season, but after taking a closer look at his 2019 film, I had to move him back up. He is a gifted all-around safety who can cover the deep half of the field and also stick his nose in the backfield to get a tackle for loss. He finished the season with 95 tackles, three interceptions, three sacks and four forced fumbles. I'm interested in seeing McKinney work out at the combine: How fast will he run the 40-yard dash?

The 2020 Draft Profile series:

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