New York Giants' secondary in shambles with rookie safety Xavier McKinney to miss up to 3 months

Former Alabama safety Xavier McKinney was expected to a be a first-round pick in April's NFL Draft as the CBS Sports Big Board ranked him as the No. 17 player overall and No. 1 safety. Thus, the New York Giants were thrilled that McKinney was available at No. 36 overall in Round 2. McKinney was expected to start from Day 1 but now will miss 10-12 weeks due to a fractured foot, leaving New York's secondary incredibly thin.

McKinney underwent surgery Wednesday in Manhattan and will be placed on injured reserve with a designation to return. The likely best-case scenario is that he's back by Week 12 in Cincinnati, which is the week after New York's bye. Last year with the Crimson Tide, the 6-foot, 200-pound McKinney had 95 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, three sacks and three interceptions in being named first-team All-SEC and third-team All-American.

The tackles were a team high, first among SEC defensive backs and most by an Alabama defensive back since Landon Collins had 102 in 2014. The Giants are hoping that McKinney will be the next Collins as he starred with the Giants after being the No. 33 overall pick in the 2015 draft. Collins left as a free agent for Washington following the 2018 season.

William Hill sportsbook is still listing McKinney at +3300 to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, but that's clearly not happening with this injury. Second-year player Julian Love will start in McKinney's place.

Could the Giants chase free-agent safety Earl Thomas after this injury? How about former Titans cornerback Logan Ryan? New York's secondary is in shambles as projected starting cornerback DeAndre Baker is on the Commissioner's Exempt List after being charged early this month with four counts of robbery with a firearm for an incident near Miami in mid-May. Baker almost surely has played his last snap with the Giants. Another cornerback, Sam Beal, opted out of the 2020 season.

To make matters worse, inside linebacker David Mayo was to have surgery Thursday to repair a meniscus injury in his left knee. Mayo played all 16 games last season and started the final 13. He tied for second on the team with a career-best 80 tackles (tied for second on team), including his first two career sacks. Early reports are that it's not a full tear of the meniscus. If that's the case, surgeons would only need to "trim" it, and Mayo could be back in 3-4 weeks. If the meniscus needs a full repair, however, he's done for the year. 

The Giants host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday in Week 1 (Big Ben could be licking his chops), with the visitors currently -3.5 on the NFL odds.

WHICH 2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL SLEEPER SHOULD YOU SNATCH IN YOUR DRAFT? AND WHICH WR1 CANDIDATE CAN YOU WAIT ON UNTIL LATE? JOIN SPORTSLINE NOW TO GET 2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL CHEAT SHEETS FROM THE MODEL THAT WAS ALL OVER DERRICK HENRY'S HUGE SEASON, AND FIND OUT.