Saints Roster: Realistic expectations for Paulson Adebo in 2022
Paulson Adebo is entering his second year on the New Orleans Saints roster after the team spent a third-round pick on him in the 2021 NFL Draft. What should fans expect from him in year two?
When the New Orleans Saints spent their third-round pick in last year’s draft on Paulson Adebo, fans were mostly excited. The team needed to address their secondary and Adebo was someone who could help the area improve.
The knock on Adebo at that point was that he didn’t play during the 2020 season, as he opted out due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When he joined the Saints, he hadn’t played football in over a year.
The rookie immediately got off to a hot start, picking off Aaron Rodgers for his first-ever NFL interception. What a player to get your first turnover against!
As the season went on, Adebo had his ups and downs, as most rookies do but in a league that’s become very pass-happy, the Stanford rookie held his own. He finished the season with a PFF grade of 60.3, which isn’t the best in the world but decent for a rookie who was thrust into starting action from the jump.
Saints Roster: What should fans expect from Paulson Adebo in 2022?
While New Orleans lost both Malcolm Jenkins and Marcus Williams this offseason, their secondary still looks strong, thanks to the additions of Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye. While that’s on the safety side of things, Adebo is one of the reasons the cornerback room looks primed for another strong season.
Now that Adebo has one year of pro football under his belt, there’s no reason he can’t build off of what he did as a rookie and use it as a learning opportunity. He started all 17 games last year, which isn’t something we expected to happen, and managed to limit Bradley Roby’s playing time, a guy who the team traded for to start opposite Lattimore.
Adebo is going to have some bad games here and there but it happens to just about every cornerback in the league. The expectation this year is that with a defensive-minded head coach, he should improve on his stellar rookie season, putting the Saints in a tremendous spot in 2022.
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What expectations do you have for Paulson Adebo as he enters the second year of his career?