Pro Football Network picked the best player for every team. For the Green Bay Packers, the pun in that sentence is intentional.
PFN selected safety Xavier McKinney, who finished second in the NFL with eight interceptions in his debut season with the team.
“Xavier McKinney was a quality starting safety for the Giants in the first four seasons of his career, and expectations were high for him when the Green Bay Packers signed him in 2024,” Jacob Infante wrote. “Few could have imagined he’d have the year he ended up having, though.”
Only the Lions’ Kerby Joseph had more picks than McKinney. With a forced fumble, McKinney tied Joseph for No. 1 with nine forced turnovers to earn first-team All-Pro honors. He also was a top tackler at the position and emerged as a key leader to a young safety corps in particular, and the defense as a whole.
“He’s a difference-maker in coverage and might just be the best safety in the league right now,” Infante wrote.
McKinney intercepted five passes in 2021 and three in 2023 but was picked for his first Pro Bowl in 2024.
“I told my family, and I was just happy,” he said at the time. “Because, obviously, it’s been a long time coming, a lot of work got put into it, and just to finally receive that notoriety [was rewarding]. Really, I can’t thank enough people – the fans, this organization, these coaches, my teammates in here, that have helped me even get to this point.
“Really, it’s not even all about me, it’s about the guys that have helped me get to this point, my family, really everybody that’s been included in this process and the journey that I went through to even get here to this moment today. It’s a huge honor and I’m thankful for it all, for sure.”
After a blockbuster first season in which only Charles Woodson had more interceptions in a season since 2001, what is the next step?
“Absolutely there’s more that he can improve on,” defensive backs coach Ryan Downard, who focuses on the safeties, said recently. “Not to get into too many details, but there are things within the game that him and I have communicated about that he wants to grow in. Things that didn’t come up in Year 1, but we’re trying to get the system down and his technique and his job.
“So, he’s done a great job trying to learn different pieces of the game, whether it’s other positions, what’s going on around him, what’s happening up front, what’s the offense trying to do to attack our system, what’s the offense trying to do formationally, just things like that. So, there’s a long list of things ,and I guess that’s the challenge that’s laid out for me is, how do I keep trying to stretch this guy to continue getting him better. But his attitude, he’s ready for anything and everything. He wants more and more.”
In the NFC North, the choices were Detroit Lions offensive tackle Penei Sewell, Chicago Bears guard Joe Thuney, who was acquired in a trade with the Chiefs this offseason, and Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, who as Infante noted is No. 1 all-time in receiving yards per game.
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