New Orleans Saints: 5 starting position battles to watch out for

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 05: Janoris Jenkins #20 of the New Orleans Saints forces a fumble on Adam Thielen #19 of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Mercedes Benz Superdome on January 05, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

4 of 6

(Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /

Safety – Malcolm Jenkins and C.J. Gardner-Johnson

Malcolm Jenkins is a veteran safety that is coming in to fill in and take over for Vonn Bell. In terms of talent, it is a pretty even swap. The only difference is that Bell is going into his prime, Jenkins is coming out of his.

With Jenkins on the latter end of his career, it could be possible for Chauncey Garnder-Johnson to step in and try to take that role away from Jenkins. CGJ is a young, electric safety that played better in the slot than any Saints corner or safety last year.

Regardless Johnson will get his time in the slot, but the better he gets the more the aging Jenkins is going to have to work to keep his spot in the starting lineup. The key Jenkins has going for him is that he already played with the Saints once.

Sean Payton is familiar with him and he is familiar with the Saints. There will be virtually no awkward transitioning period. Even still, Gardner-Johnson has a shot at the safety position if he works his tail off.

Home/Saints News