New York Giants: Xavier McKinney the next Tyrann Mathieu?

Could Xavier McKinney be a Tyrann Mathieu-type player for the New York Giants?

NFL teams are always looking for the ‘next’ version of someone or something. After watching the impact Tyrann Mathieu made down the stretch for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2019/20 season, there’s no doubt that teams around the league were having a bit of envy, including the New York Giants.

Thankfully for the Giants, Alabama safety Xavier McKinney was sitting there on the board for them surprisingly in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Just one year after losing Landon Collins to free agency and acquiring former first-round pick Jabrill Peppers in a trade, the Giants found a Swiss Army knife for their defense in McKinney, who is one of the most pro-ready prospects coming into the league on the defensive side of the ball in 2020.

While Tyrann Mathieu is a proven commodity at the NFL level, there are traits in McKinney’s game that have to have New York Giants fans salivating.

McKinney was a weapon for Alabama no matter if he was playing a deep free safety role, a box safety role, or a nickel/dime role.

He was constantly around the football, which speaks directly to his tremendous football intelligence and preparation.

Mathieu has evolved over the years into one of the most versatile weapons in the NFL defensively, able to play man coverage on any type of receiver, drop into zone as a deep safety, play in the box, blitz, cover running backs, spy quarterbacks — it really doesn’t matter.

It’s still extremely early, but you see some of that same type of instinctual play in McKinney’s game. He’s not the same exact type of athlete as Mathieu and actually has quite a bit of size on him, but both players are quick, smart, and they fly to the football.

The Giants are going to absolutely love having him and it wouldn’t surprise me if McKinney is one of the top impact rookies defensively in the NFL in 2020.