Acme Packing Company
Hello ball skills
One of the more interesting cornerbacks in the upcoming free agency class is the New Orleans Saints’ Paulson Adebo. While names like D.J. Reed and Rasul Douglas are usually found at the top of Green Bay Packers fans’ wishlists, Adebo, a four-year starter and 25-year-old, ranked just behind those two cornerbacks in our advanced metrics study of the free agency class.
So who is Paulson Adebo? Let’s dig in.
Adebo originally committed to Notre Dame as a wide receiver before switching his college commitment to Stanford as a defensive back. The North Texas product made 20 pass deflections in his first year as a starter, leading college football, and recorded eight interceptions over his Stanford career.
As a junior, despite a down year by his standards, Adebo was ranked the 14th overall player in the 2020 class by ESPN’s Mel Kiper, the second-ranked cornerback only behind Jeff Okudah. Adebo ended up returning to school, but never wound up playing again for the Cardinal. Due to Covid, Adebo elected to opt out of the 2020 season entirely so that he could prepare for the upcoming draft. In college, Adebo was also a member of Stanford’s track team.
That track athleticism showed up at the combine, teams’ first look at Adebo in over a year. There, he ran a 4.45-second 40-yard at 6’1” and 198 pounds. More impressively, he had a 6.69-second three-cone time.
Ultimately, the New Orleans Saints pounced on the opportunity to draft Adebo in the third round, a long fall from where his 2020 draft stock peaked, at the cost of a trade of two third-round picks.
With the Saints, he’s developed into a four-year starter in his rookie contract, posting 51 starts over that time. He’s also recorded 43 pass deflections and 10 interceptions in his career. For a Packers perspective, fellow 2021 draft pick Eric Stokes has only made 14 pass deflections and one interception in his NFL career, all coming in his rookie season.
According to Pro Football Reference, the only players to match Adebo’s 43 pass deflections and 10 interceptions since 2021 are Denzel Ward, Jalen Ramsey, Trevon Diggs, Patrick Surtain II, Rasul Douglas and Byron Murphy.
The Packers should have learned about his ball skills early on in his career, as he made an interception on an Aaron Rodgers-to-Davante Adams target in his first game in the NFL. Prior to that start, Adebo hadn’t played a meaningful football game in over 670 days.
The Packers also got another up-close look at him in 2022, when the team hosted the Saints for joint practices in training camp.
For most of his career, Adebo was the starting cornerback opposite of star cornerback Marshon Lattimore in Dennis Allen’s man-heavy scheme. That was until Week 7, when he broke his femur. Here’s the good news, if you’re hoping he ends up as a Packer: He’s already posting videos of himself running over 20 miles per hour and the [Saints are...
