2020 NFL Draft odds: Alabama's Xavier McKinney favored as first safety picked

Alabama didn't come close to having a safety come off the board in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft as the only Tide player from that position selected was Deionte Thompson at No. 139 overall by the Arizona Cardinals. However, there's little doubt that a Bama safety will go in Round 1 of the 2020 draft and that's Xavier McKinney. He is given an Over-Under draft position of 24.5 at William Hill sportsbook, with both options at -110 (bet $110 to win $100).

McKinney declared after his junior season in which he played all 13 games and had 95 tackles (team high), 5.5 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles (second-most in school history), three interceptions and three sacks. One of those picks was returned 81 yards for a score against Western Carolina. He was named first-team All-SEC and third-team All-American and was a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award.

McKinney is 6-foot, 201 pounds and ran a 4.63 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine with a 36-inch vertical and 19 reps in the bench press. NFL.com gives him a comp of Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who was a fourth-round pick last year out of Florida and had a fine rookie season with the Saints.

If McKinney and Tide cornerback Trevon Diggs are both first-round picks, which seems likely, it would be only the second time two Alabama defensive backs would accomplish that in the same year: In 2012, Mark Barron went No. 7 overall to Tampa Bay and Dre Kirkpatrick No. 17 to Cincinnati.

Why is McKinney given an Over-Under draft spot of 24.5? New Orleans picks 24th and Minnesota 25th – the Vikings definitely need help in the secondary and have little safety depth. McKinney is a -188 favorite to be the first safety drafted, and it will either be him or LSU's Grant Delpit (+130), who was the Thorpe Award winner in 2019.

CBS Sports' Pete Prisco doesn't have McKinney going in the first round, but a handful of other CBS experts do in their mock drafts. ESPN's Mel Kiper doesn't have McKinney in the first round, either.

NFL pick: Yes on first safety picked, Over 24.5.