Ranking Every Player on Packers’ Roster, No. 2: Xavier McKinney

The Green Bay Packers will take a 90-player roster to the field for their first practice of training camp on July 23.

In a Packers On SI tradition, we are ranking every player on the roster. This isn’t just a list of the best players. Rather, we take talent, contract, draft history, importance of the position and depth at the position into consideration.

More than the ranking, we hope you learn a little something about every player on the roster.

No. 2: S Xavier McKinney

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Xavier McKinney made a great first impression.

“When he came here, when we signed him, when we went out to dinner together, I had a really good feel – just initial gut feel – that this is a dude,” LaFleur said during OTAs last year. “And my experience with him up to this point is exactly that. He is a dude, and we’re fortunate to have him here.”

That great first impression continued throughout his first year in Green Bay. McKinney:

– Was named first-team All-Pro, the first Packers safety to earn the honor since 2000.

– Recorded eight interceptions, tied for second in the league and the most by a Packers player since Charles Woodson had nine in 2009.

– Broke up 11 passes, becoming the first Packers safety in double figures since Morgan Burnett in 2011.

– Became the first player since the 1970 merger with an interception in each of his team’s first five games and tied Irv Comp in 1943 for the longest streak in Packers history.

– Was the fourth player since the merger with a takeaway in each of his team’s first five games.  

McKinney is so good that he changed the fortunes of two teams. With the Giants in 2023, McKinney had three interceptions to help them finish tied for first in takeaways and tied for third in interceptions. Meanwhile, the Packers were 23rd in takeaways and 31st in interceptions.

McKinney signed a four-year, $67 million contract in free agency. The Packers shot up to third in interceptions and fourth in takeaways while the Giants plunged to 31st in interceptions and 28th in takeaways.

“He’s constantly texting me questions,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said last season. “We’re going back and forth, even when we’re not here in the building. He’s in my office early in the morning wanting to go over the game plan before we even give out the game plan. He’s watching extra tape, he’s studying it.

“That’s what you get when you’re that talented and you work that hard. You get on the field, it’s not luck. His preparation has met his opportunity and he’s taken off with it.”

McKinney is so much more than a ballhawk who will make big plays but also give up some. Over the last four seasons, he is the only player in the NFL with at least 325 tackles, 15 interceptions and 35 passes defensed. Over that span, he is No. 1 among safeties with 37 passes defensed. Plus, he’s consistently been one of the most efficient tacklers in the league throughout his career.

So, what’s next?

“There’s always going to be levels of improvement,” he said during OTAs. “I think my biggest thing is I like to say, I have my foot on their necks. And, really, it’s going to be the same. I’m not going to let off the gas for nothing or nobody. That same intensity, that same energy, it’s going to stay the same.

“Obviously, I know what I want to accomplish by the end of my career, and I know that in order to hit that goal, these years are going to matter. So, I take that seriously; I don’t take that lightly. So, for me, it’s just keep grinding, keep my head down, and keep locking in on the small details so I don’t get complacent and I keep having these All-Pro years.”

What he wants to accomplish is the biggest goal imaginable.

“Gold jacket is what I’m aiming for,” he said. “That’s always going to be the goal and it’s been the goal since I came in, and it’s been a goal since I was a kid.”

McKinney has the talent, intelligence and drive to get there. For McKinney, being great is about the routine. From peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches as a kid to watching the tape of the upcoming quarterback as soon as possible after a game, McKinney knows what he wants to do and how he’s going to get it done.

“I could do the same thing every day and I’m fine,” he said in December. “I pretty much eat the same stuff every day. My breakfast is going to be the same. When I get home, my lunch is going to be the same. I’m going to have a chicken bowl – chicken, rice, corn and black beans. Then, dinner, most of the time it’s going to be fish. I like to keep my routine. I stay disciplined with it.”

That, according to Keisean Nixon, means cold eggs that he made at home and brought to the stadium to get a jump on his day.

“Not cold. He lying,” McKinney said. “But I put them in the container and I bring them with me. By the time I get here, it’s not going to be hot still. Sh** ain’t gonna be hot no more. It is what it is.”