The New Orleans Saints had to sit and watch Paulson Adebo, their starting cornerback, suffer a terrible broken femur during last week’s loss to the Denver Broncos. While this certainly wasn’t the first injury to hit the team, it was a devastating blow to the secondary in general. And this isn’t exactly the time for the defense to be missing key pieces. Now, it appears as if we know who will be stepping up in the secondary with Adebo down.
Taylor And McKinstry Will Fill The Void
Saints head coach Dennis Allen stated earlier that he believes Alontae Taylor will be primarily filling in for Adebo at cornerback. However, most fans likely already know that Alontae is a strong slot cornerback who has really excelled in his current position on the field. Allen mentioned that if Taylor gets moved into the slot for a specific play or scheme, then rookie cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry will step onto the field to fill in for Adebo’s spot. So, the main takeaway is that McKinstry will see action in place of Adebo, though the team will attempt to use Taylor in a multitude of different ways to mitigate the loss.
Adebo Was Hot And Cold For The Saints
If you haven’t watched much Saints football, you would know the difference that Adebo made on the field. There were things that he didn’t do a great job at, and other things that he excelled at. For example, he was repeatedly hit with crucial defensive holding or pass interference penalties that put the defenses in poor situations. He would also get routinely targeted on his side of the field because Marshon Lattimore locked down his side. And despite being beaten a handful of times each game, he would always come up big and force plays to happen. He came away with several interceptions and pass deflections that significantly helped the unit out. Adebo was one of those firecracker types of players who can get really hot and very cold. Whichever way you think about him, his absence will absolutely be felt.
Depth Isn’t Very Deep At Corner
If Lattimore ends up being unable to play due to his hamstring injury (or if he reaggravates it during the game) then the Saints don’t have many options left to turn to. They could look towards undrafted rookie Rico Payton, who thrived in the preseason and made the roster thanks to his showing. Although, that is really the only other option at the moment. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear if the Saints try and go for Ugo Amadi again, and they already brought back Shemar Jean-Charles. Either way, the depth beneath the current corners is very thin, much like the rest of the roster. It’s truly going to be a next-man-up mentality in New Orleans for the remainder of the season. At least we will get an opportunity to see how great McKinstry can be in a possible starting role down the stretch of the season. It could make this absence a lot easier to deal with.