The New Orleans Saints hope to get a big boost in their secondary with cornerback Paulson Adebo returning to the starting lineup (you can check the Week 5 inactives report here).
Adebo missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, and though Isaac Yiadom played very well in his absences — outside of two touchdown passes thrown against his coverage, which were admittedly very well-placed balls — the coaching staff still has a lot of confidence in Adebo’s abilities. Defensive coordinator Joe Wood squashed any speculation about the second cornerback spot this week with a public vote of confidence for Adebo.
Still, Adebo needs to back that up with high-level performance on the field. One area he must work on is penalties. He’s become a magnet for coverage fouls, leading the team with three infractions despite having played in just two games. Adebo was flagged twice for defensive holding and again for defensive pass interference. He must play with cleaner hands and avoid hurting his team by giving away free yardage.
But Adebo starting over Yiadom doesn’t say anything negative about his backup’s performance. Yiadom has forced quarterbacks to throw into tight windows in his two-game stint as a starter while getting his hands on a lot of footballs (tying for the league lead with 5 passes broken up). The Saints run deeper than many other teams in the secondary, and having playmakers stacked up behind Marshon Lattimore like these two (not to mention Alontae Taylor, who is improving each week in the slot) is an embarrassment of riches. They haven’t had much to hang their hats on this season, but you can’t fault the cornerback play.
