The Saints may not be ready to sort out every training camp battle after one day on the field, but Kool-Aid McKinstry is already making noise in a way that matters.
New Orleans opened camp yesterday, and the first full day of drills brought the kind of early buzz every team hopes for. At this stage, nobody is handing out roster spots or declaring winners across the board. Still, one name has clearly jumped to the front of the conversation.
That matters most for a Saints cornerback group that had to learn on the fly last season. Brandon Staley’s defense leans heavily on zone, even if man coverage still shows up, and that forced the corners to adjust to a different kind of responsibility. For some of them, including McKinstry, the transition took time.
McKinstry’s start to the season came with obvious growing pains. He has always been strong in man coverage, and that part of his game was never really in doubt.
The bigger question was how he would handle the zone-heavy demands of this system, especially with tackling issues showing up along the way. The pressure built, but he answered it.
By the end of the season, the Saints’ CB1 was making plays in zone and staying steady in man coverage, exactly the kind of progress the team needed to see.
That development appears to be carrying right into camp.
“Kool-Aid McKinstry is a baller. From what he did in OTAs to what he's doing today, it showed up again today.
That cat is going to be something special, man, and Im excited about what he's going to do this year. He's been putting in the work, he's been grinding hard, and showing up."
When a captain goes out of his way to single out a teammate like that, it carries weight. Reid could have taken the safe route and talked generally about the room, the process, and taking things day by day. Instead, he made sure McKinstry’s name was the one everyone heard.
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