On the surface, it might look like 2025 was a down year for Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney after his historic first season with the team in 2024.
Putting together what was arguably the best season by a safety in Green Bay history, McKinney hauled in a career-high eight interceptions, the second most in the NFL. He also broke up 11 passes, another career-high, and was named a first-team All-Pro.
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It was a remarkable find in free agency for Green Bay, which hadn’t seen a safety put up these kinds of numbers since Nick Collins. However, it may have unintentionally created some unrealistic expectations.
In 2025, McKinney played in one fewer game and logged only 14 fewer defensive snaps than the year prior, but had only two interceptions to go along with 10 pass defenses, a forced fumble, and 107 total tackles—the second-highest total of his career—numbers that were still good enough to earn him second-team All-Pro honors.
Rather than viewing McKinney’s inability to maintain his 2024 production as a failure, it should elevate how impressive it truly was.
In 2024, he recorded an interception in each of his first five games with the team, becoming the first player in league history to do so since the 1970 merger.
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Early on in his Packers tenure, quarterbacks were having a difficult time accounting for McKinney. Green Bay was in its first season under defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, now head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and he knew just what to do with McKinney to put him in advantageous positions. As the season progressed, opposing offenses began to account for McKinney’s presence more and more, and the opportunities for takeaways dwindled.
Unfortunately, offensive coordinators did not forget about the boogeyman roaming in Green Bay’s secondary this season. According to Pro Football Focus, McKinney was targeted only 26 times in coverage in 2025 compared to 36 in 2024.
McKinney actually allowed fewer yards per reception and a lower percentage of passes caught against his coverage in 2025 than in 2024. He also logged more tackles but was credited with the same number of missed tackles (five). Additionally, McKinney allowed only 0.3 yards per coverage snap in 2025, the best among all NFL defensive players with at least 300 coverage snaps, according to Next Gen Stats.
So, if you thought McKinney regressed this season, maybe you just haven’t looked at the whole picture. Despite a drop in his interception total, McKinney is still one of the most respected safeties in the league, and his impact can be felt and measured in other ways.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Why 2025 wasn’t a ‘down year’ for Packers S Xavier McKinney
