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If you look hard enough, you will see some light at the end of the Gettleman Midtown Tunnel, after all the darkness that has enveloped and engulfed the franchise since Super Bowl XLVI, and never mind that it is still more of a flicker than a blinding heat lamp, or an aurora borealis in the …
If you look hard enough, you will see some light at the end of the Gettleman Midtown Tunnel, after all the darkness that has enveloped and engulfed the franchise since Super Bowl XLVI, and never mind that it is still more of a flicker than a blinding heat lamp, or an aurora borealis in the skies high above 1925 Giants Drive.
But Gettleman took one more small step for Giantkind when stud Alabama safety Xavier McKinney virtually fell in his lap with the 36th pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.
That’s two small steps for Giantkind in two nights following his first-round pick of Left Tackle Of The Future If Not Present Andrew Thomas.
McKinney, a versatile, instinctive, high-character first-round talent out of the Nick Saban Football Factory, undoubtedly slid out of the first round because he could not redeem the 4.63 40 he ran at the scouting combine with his pro day because of COVID-19.
“The Giants nailed this pick,” ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick said.
You bet they did.
After letting Landon Collins walk out the door a year ago, Gettleman thankfully adopted a Better Safety Than Sorry approach.
McKinney, who says he can run 4.52, cramped up before the combine 40.
“I play way faster than what that 40 said,” McKinney said. “That was really a fake time.”
Gettleman seconds that emotion.
“I’ve said it to my scouts: ‘How fast does a guy play?’ ” Gettleman said. “It’s about how he carries his pads.
“It’s not what he does in his underwear on a track.”
McKinney can fill a multitude of roles a la former Tide DB Minkah Fitzpatrick, including as a complement to Jabrill Peppers.
“I’m a big fan of him,” McKinney said of Peppers.
McKinney, 6-foot-1, 201 pounds, was one of four college players in 2019 with 100 or more snaps at inside linebacker, outside linebacker, safety and cornerback. In other words, a mini-Isaiah Simmons of sorts.
X marks the spot. X marks a lot of spots.
“I consider myself a DB,” McKinney said. “A DB is somebody that can play safety, free safety, corner, slot nickel, anywhere. I’m a versatile DB, that’s how I consider myself.”
When he isn’t tattooing ballcarriers, he draws and designs cartoon tattoos that adorn his arms (Mario, Minions and Marvin the Martian) and shoulder (Tasmanian Devil).
Too bad Gettleman didn’t have three first-round picks as the Dolphins did. He has four seventh-round picks instead.
He passed on Penn State’s Yetur Gross-Matos, Auburn’s Marlon Davidson and Iowa’s A.J. Epenesa, which means he is still searching for a pass-rusher, and he passed on Matt Hennessy and Lloyd Cushenberry, which means center remains unsettled, and he passed on new Jet Denzel Mims, which means tight end Evan Engram is Daniel Jones’ lone big receiver.
But Rome wasn’t built in a day, and this isn’t the night to point out that sometimes it isn’t built in three years either.
Gettleman cut off a plan to move down when McKinney was available. “We had made up our mind that if Xavier fell to us we’re taking him,” Gettleman said.
For the Giants to take one giant leap, Gettleman’s 2019 and 2020 drafts will have to prove to be the best drafts the franchise has seen since Jerry Reese’s first draft in 2007 (Aaron Ross, Steve Smith, Zak DeOssie, Kevin Boss, Ahmad Bradshaw).
The good news is that Gettleman has fared better in the draft than he has in free agency.
The long and winding road back to credibility and respectability demands that Gettleman picks the right players and Joe Judge and his coaching staff are better equipped than the previous regime to develop the army of pups.
The 2019 draft looks promising, especially with Jones convincing the organization that it has found its successor to Eli Manning.
If Gettleman is right about Thomas, he will have successfully protected his young franchise QB and generational RB investments.
Gettleman will cross his fingers that 2019 draftees Dexter Lawrence, DeAndre Baker, Oshane Ximines, Julian Love, Ryan Connelly and Darius Slayton join Jones as impact players.
Because Gettleman’s rebuilding blueprint was replete with zigs and zags and fits and starts, he found himself with no margin for error with the 99th pick waiting for him.
If The Man On The Hot Seat has contended that the Giants are not as far away as skeptics believe they are. Gettleman needs three starters from this 2020 Virtual Draft. He has two now. Light at the end of the tunnel, and maybe this time, it isn’t a train.
