The New Orleans Saints 2025 draft class could be the catalyst that spurs the franchise into a much needed new era. The talent was plentiful and made an instant impact. Tyler Shough and Kelvin Banks highlighted the class, and now Jonas Sanker and Quincy Riley are predicted to be the next to breakout.
ESPN’s Ben Solak went through breakout candidates for every team. When he got to the Saints, he admitted it was a coin flip between Riley and Sanker. The options weren’t just last year’s rookie class. Solak sees Riley and Sanker as breakout candidates among the entire roster, which speaks to the talent within that draft class.
The coin flip ultimately went Riley’s way, but having to pick between the two defensive backs is a representation of the ceiling of the secondary just as much as it represents the 2025 draft class.
Quincy Riley can stabilize the cornerback room
Kool-Aid McKinstry will man one side of the field and we expect Riley to start on the other side. There’s questions about how good McKinstry can be, but he’s proven to be a starting caliber player who has earned the trust of the fan base.
Riley is on the way to that but still needs a little more time put in before the confidence is fully there. His rookie year was strong, which is why there's optimism around Riley now.
The breakout season Solak is predicting would create that confidence. It would also greatly stabilize the position by giving the team a cornerback tandem to build around. This of course assumes that McKinstry takes the next step too.
The quickest way for Riley to make a larger impact is to tap back into his collegiate super power. Riley was a turnover machine in college. Solak spoke to that by pointing out Riley "has an inarguable nose for the football."
Riley had 15 interceptions over the course of 5 seasons and never ended a season with less than two interceptions, despite only playing 6 games in 2020. As a rookie, he recorded an interception and forced a fumble. If Riley can increase his turnover production, he could be one of the Saints' leaders in interceptions and make Solak's breakout prediction correct.
Add us as a preferred source on Google