Isaac Yiadom’s preseason has put him in a tough spot with the Saints, and roster cutdown day on Aug. 30 will reveal whether that rough stretch costs him his job.
The veteran cornerback has had a miserable offseason by the sounds of it. He’s reportedly been getting beaten repeatedly in practice, and the preseason games didn’t help his case.
In those three games, he was burned and bullied, and the loss to the Dallas Cowboys stood out most because he allowed nearly every positive play by the Cowboys offense in the first half. More often than not this offseason, his name has come up in frustration rather than praise.
If New Orleans does move on from him, it would be parting with one of the older bodies in the cornerback room. Yiadom has brought experience, and losing that would shift even more responsibility onto younger players.
That’s where Kool-Aid McKinstry and Quincy Riley come in. Both are still on rookie contracts, which makes leaning on them a little risky for any team. But the Saints appear to feel good about the direction of both players.
McKinstry has especially impressed over the past few months, building himself into a leader and playmaker. He’s viewed as a likely team captain and has drawn steady praise from teammates, coaches and fans.
Riley, meanwhile, has been quietly turning heads with Saints media and staff as the spring has given way to fall. He’s made plays when needed and, just as important, has stayed away from the kind of mistakes that end up on highlight reels. That has him looking like a strong candidate for the CB2 role.
If Yiadom is cut and very recently signed Michael Davis doesn’t make the roster, Justin Reid would become the oldest player in the Saints’ defensive backfield at 29. That would leave New Orleans leaning heavily on a group of 20-somethings, making youth a major theme in the defense this season.
In Other News...
Saints Backfield Suddenly Has A New Reason For Optimism
Within days of arriving in New Orleans, Zamir White was already part of the conversation in the Saints backfield. The running back came over from the San Francisco 49ers in a player-for-player trade and got on the field quickly enough to make an impression in the Saints final preseason game, a 27-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys. With injuries thinning out the room, the team needed signs that the ground game could still hold together, and White offered one right away.
He needed only his second carry in a Saints uniform to find the end zone, breaking off an 11-yard touchdown that added a little more life to a rushing attack that had been searching for stability. The performance came with contributions from several backs, which is exactly the kind of depth New Orleans has been trying to build while navigating the injury issues around it. For a unit that entered the preseason with questions, Whites fast start gave the Saints a reason to feel better about what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Cutdown Fallout Starts With One Receiver Saints Fans Just Saw
The Cowboys 27-24 preseason loss to the Saints also pushed their roster decisions into sharper focus, and rookie wide receiver Jordan Hudson is one of the first names drawing attention. Hudson had only limited production in exhibition play, and with cutdown time arriving soon, his path to the 53-man roster looks narrow after a summer spent trying to carve out a role.
What comes next for Hudson remains the real question. He could still land on a practice squad, either in Dallas or elsewhere, or choose to take advantage of the transfer option that would allow him to return to college football for another season. For Saints fans who just saw him across the field, he may end up being one of those preseason names worth remembering even after the roster math is done. [Read more 🡒]
Saints End Preseason With Two Roster Questions Suddenly Worth Watching
The Saints closed the preseason with a 27-24 win over the Cowboys, and the result came with the kind of late-August details coaches like to see: multiple rushing touchdowns, two field goals from Daniel Carlson and enough productivity on both sides of the ball to make the final tune-up feel worthwhile. It was the sort of game that offered a glimpse of depth rather than a clean answer, with Zach Wilson and Spencer Rattler both among the notable contributors as New Orleans sorted through its final evaluations.
Now the attention shifts from the scoreboard to the roster, where a couple of position battles have become suddenly more interesting after the way the preseason wrapped. The Saints still have decisions to make before the regular season arrives, and the encouraging part is that several players gave the staff something to think about in a game that mattered more for standing than for style. [Read more 🡒]