Canal Street Chronicles
And New Orleans needs it to happen.
The New Orleans Saints had many issues last season, but one that stood out more was the play at cornerback. Throughout the time that Dennis Allen was a coach in New Orleans, the defensive back room was always the strength of the team. If the quality of play ever diminished, it was due to rampant injuries, but last season was a bit different. Yes, injuries were present, but the pass defense/tackling from the cornerback room looked back at times. This became even worse when Marshon Lattimore was traded, and Paulson Adebo’s injury knocked him out for the rest of the season. This is where the struggles last year showed for Alontae Taylor.
Since being drafted by the Saints, Taylor has been moved from outside corner to slot corner, then back to the outside. This created a situation where Taylor could not become comfortable in the scheme, which showed on the field. When Taylor was utilized on the outside to start his career, he looked spectacular in pass defense, but the Saints already had Lattimore and Adebo as the two starting outside corners. Taylor proved he needed to start, so the staff put him at slot corner, but this is where the issues started. This move had a clear learning curve, and the Saints needed to be patient. This is what New Orleans did, and Taylor started to improve as the team’s slot corner. Still, with Lattimore being traded and Adebo going down with injury, Taylor needed to move back outside to replace that production. There was a belief that this move would be seamless because of how well Taylor played on the outside to start his career, but in the end, he still struggled. This could have been due to moving positions mid-season, the coaching staff at the time, or even just the team's morale. All that matters is Alontae Taylor’s future play in the Saints’ defense, and there is a good chance he has a bounce-back year.
With how the Saints’ current cornerback room looks, Taylor is at least the second-best corner on the team. The hope is Kool-Aid McKinstry can take that next step and become the top corner, but Taylor is also right there. Still, the current coaching staff needs to figure out where Taylor’s best spot to play is, and that should be in the slot. I mentioned before that Taylor had some growing pains when first used as the slot corner, but he also improved over time. There has been zero doubt of Taylor’s devotion to football and getting better at his craft, so it should be expected that he can make an even bigger jump at slot. Yes, this sounds very similar to when many had full believe he could take over on the outside, but this time, Taylor is going to have the full offseason perfecting his play at slot. Also, Taylor can still be utilized on the outside at times, and his flexibility is something...
