{"id":241677,"date":"2025-07-28T02:51:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T02:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/241677\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T02:51:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T02:51:11","slug":"1-surprising-saints-player-who-could-make-or-break-2025-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/241677\/","title":{"rendered":"1 surprising Saints player who could make or break 2025 season"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Saints<\/a> must find a way to galvanize a curious but restless fanbase. Kellen Moore<\/a> will aim to get the Saints back to respectability in the NFC South. Plus end their streak of playoff misses.<\/p>\n

Moore’s biggest task during NFL Training Camp<\/a> is finding Derek Carr’s replacement behind center. Carr shockingly retired in May<\/a> following a lingering shoulder injury. Tyler Shough is rising as QB1.<\/p>\n

But Shough needing to step up isn’t a surprise. The Saints drafted him high at No. 40 overall. Shough armed himself with his fully guaranteed contract already<\/a>. But the Saints immediately are showing they’re banking on Shough by taking him in the first 40 selections and signing him.<\/p>\n

Instead, this surprising Saints player is the one who could make or break their 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n

Saints need Kool-Aid McKinstry to step up\u00a0\"NewStephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Moore’s area of expertise is offense. But he needs a young defender to raise his game another level. All to ensure his offense gets the ball back right away.<\/p>\n

That’s where Kool-Aid McKinstry enters the picture.<\/p>\n

The past Alabama Crimson Tide star fell to No. 41 overall in his 2024 draft class. Even though he garnered first round attention. But he became a gift pickup for New Orleans.<\/p>\n

McKinstry showed signs of potential stardom. Especially playing next to established veterans Marshon Lattimore and Paulson Adebo.<\/p>\n

The ’24 rookie played in 430 total coverage snaps<\/a> per Pro Football Focus. He delivered astonishing production when called.<\/p>\n

Opposing quarterback completed 34 passes on 62 targeted throws toward McKinstry. Meaning QBs only successfully completed less than 55% of their throws against him. The 6-foot-1 CB allowed only 454 total yards too \u2014 with no one gaining 100 yards his side. Wide receivers settled for an average of 30.2 yards per game facing him in coverage.<\/p>\n

But here’s why it’s McKinstry, not Shough, who rises as the surprise Saint who’ll dictate 2025.<\/p>\n

Kool-Aid McKinstry’s time is now in Saints defense\u00a0\"LasMatthew Hinton-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Lattimore left for the Washington Commanders. Adebo joined him in the NFC East too. Except he’s off to the New York Giants.<\/p>\n

Guess who rises to CB1 for this Saints defense?<\/p>\n

Best believe quarterbacks will test the incoming second-year CB off the bat. They’ll find out if McKinstry stays patient in coverage or plays with panic. He showed some first-year mistakes in ’24. Including allowing two touchdowns his side through the final five games.<\/p>\n

Here’s another reason for Moore and New Orleans banking on McKinstry. He becomes one of the older statesmen in the CB room \u2014 even in season two. All due to a sudden departure.<\/p>\n

Tyrann Mathieu announced his retirement on Tuesday<\/a>. He ends a brilliant 12-year career that included winning the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n

Mathieu’s departure swings the door open for McKinstry to lead the CB room now. The rest of the CBs are a mix of untested rooks or free agent signings. Alontae Taylor, though, is a contender for one of the other open CB spots.<\/p>\n

But the past Tide superstar must establish himself as the ball-hawk and complete corner. Especially in a division loaded with polarizing QB talent. Baker Mayfield is the Pro Bowler N.O. faces twice. But Bryce Young showed improvement and Michael Penix Jr. energizes the new era for Atlanta.<\/p>\n

New Orleans needs McKinstry to set a massive tone for this secondary. Plus help give Moore great field position and the ball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New Orleans Saints must find a way to galvanize a curious but restless fanbase. Kellen Moore will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[7,7166,896,55,2572,2571,6,15,18732,22213,10154,397,283],"class_list":{"0":"post-241677","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-kellen-moore","10":"tag-new-orleans","11":"tag-new-orleans-saints","12":"tag-neworleans","13":"tag-neworleanssaints","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-nfl-draft","16":"tag-nfl-editorials","17":"tag-nfl-stories","18":"tag-nfl-training-camp","19":"tag-saints","20":"tag-tyler-shough"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114928594950096111","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}