2020 NFL Draft: New York Giants snag Xavier McKinney, home run pick

Digging into the New York Giants selection of Xavier McKinney in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

With their first-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, the New York Giants filled an obvious need with the safe selection of Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas. They did something similar here with their second-round pick, taking Xavier McKinney, a talented safety out of Alabama.

McKinney is arguably the best safety prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft class and certainly would have been a nice value late in the first round. With the Giants snagging him early in the second, I really like this value. Safety is also a major position of need for this team.

McKinney can do a little bit of everything at the safety position. He is a tough and aggressive in-the-box player who does a nice job of working through traffic and finding his way to the ball carrier. He also shows impressive man-to-man coverage skill and the necessary range and ball skills to play on the back-end.

In McKinney, the New York Giants are getting an extremely versatile player who can fill a variety of roles. At Alabama, McKinney was a fierce in-the-box player, but he also make an impact on the back-end and even took some reps at slot cornerback.

It will now be up to head coach Joe Judge and his defensive staff to get the most out of this player. McKinney is not the kind of guy who you can simply put in one role and let him work. He needs to be used in a variety of roles if you ever expect to get the most out of him.

I had McKinney connected to the New England Patriots for a while now. He is a smart and versatile player who always left like a strong fit for them. I expect that Joe Judge, who joins the Giants this year from the Patriots, had his hands all over this 2020 NFL Draft selection.