Xavier McKinney Questions Mel Kiper Jr.

Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. routinely spend the spring arguing with one another over draft prospects. This spring is no different despite holding the draft online and most pro-days being cancelled. McShay considers Alabama's Xavier McKinney to be the top safety in this upcoming draft class. McKinney took some time out of training this week to ask Kiper Jr. why he doesn't agree with McShay's assessment.

Kiper Jr. retorted that he regards McKinney the best "pure safety" in the 2020 draft class but puts Minnesota's Antoine Winfield Jr. ahead of McKinney due to his versatility and ability to play slot-corner in addition to safety. Kiper Jr. predicted both players to come off the board in the top 20-25 picks of the upcoming draft.

McShay admitted to have not seen as much of Winfield but said that he thinks McKinney is the top safety in the class. LSU's Grant Delpit entered the season with more fanfare but McShay announced that McKinney had outplayed the 2019 Thorpe award winner.

McKinney recorded 95 tackles, five defended passes, four forced fumbles, three sacks, three interceptions, one fumble recovery and one interception returned for a touchdown in 2019 for the Crimson Tide.

Winfield Jr. recorded 83 tackles, seven interceptions, three sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception returned for a touchdown in 2019 for the Golden Gophers.

Delpit recorded 65 tackles, defended seven passes, two interceptions, two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery for the Tigers in 2019.

The NFL draft is scheduled to be held online from April 23-25 on ESPN. Keep it locked in with Tide 100.9fm, tide1009.com/listen-live and the TIDE APP for all the updates on the Alabama Crimson Tide.