Prospect Preview: Could Kool-Aid McKinstry be the next great Saints cornerback?

In early January the New Orleans Saints restructured Marshon Lattimore’s contract to allow them more flexibility to trade him if they wanted to. This has created rumors about the star cornerback’s future in New Orleans. If Lattimore is traded, the Saints should consider investing some draft capital back into the corner position. If they do, Kool-Aid McKinstry could be the perfect Marshon Lattimore replacement.

Kool-Aid McKinstry is an athletic corner with a good frame standing at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds. He is extremely physical and thrives in press-man situations. The Saints run a lot of man looks on defense, so McKinstry would fit right in, as he has the athleticism and the physicality to run with the wide receiver in front of him.

Playing in the SEC, McKinstry has seen his fair share of future NFL wide receivers such as Malik Nabers, Xavier Worthy, and Brian Thomas Jr. He has been able to stick with all three of them extremely well and flashes tons of potential going into the NFL.

In the past two seasons at Alabama, McKinstry has played a total of 1,720 snaps. In those snaps he has only allowed 56 total receptions, 557 yards, and two touchdowns according to PFF. He is the definition of a lockdown cornerback and has all of the attributes to do that at the next level. McKinstry has struggled with the deep ball at times in college. He sometimes has a challenging time tracking the ball which allows the offense an advantage. That is something that needs to be worked on at the next level.

If the Saints do decide to pull the trigger on a trade with Marshon Lattimore, then Kool-Aid McKinstry would be an amazing candidate to replace him. It’s never easy to replace a star such as Lattimore but McKinstry has all of the tools to be able to do it. With how much head coach Dennis Allen loves drafting players in the secondary this is a very realistic option for the Saints and is one that fans should be excited about.

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