Alontae Taylor wasn’t shy about stating it, expressing a desire to play outside cornerback for the New Orleans Saints in his second NFL season. It wasn’t an unreasonable ambition, given that he’d never played nickel corner before, and his learning process would essentially start at the bottom.
However, after a sometimes-rocky first season in the slot, Taylor, now in his third season, appears to have come around to the concept that the tremendous talents that make him one of the Saints’ best 11 defenders would allow him to make his imprint at nickel, at least for the time being.
“I think his confidence level is good,” Coach Dennis Allen said of Taylor, who missed the last two minicamp practices due to an oblique injury that should not be an issue when the Saints return to training camp in July.
“I think there were definitely areas where he might have improved from last year, but I believe he approached it correctly. He’s working very hard on it. He’s a talented player. I believe that being too hard on him for his performance last year would be unfair, given that he is a young player who has never played in this position before. Those things take some time to get used to, and I believe you’ll see an improved player this year.
Defensive coordinator Joe Woods stated that he and Taylor thoroughly examined Taylor’s play last season to discover flaws and potential fixes.
“It was hard for him,” Woods added. “It was up and down.” I believe I could have coached him better, but making the adjustment from corner to nickel requires you to play in space.
“When you play corner, you have the sideline as an extra defender, but now since you’re in the slot, you have to defend the inside, outside, and deep. So it’s just about making the shift and participating in the run game.
“I know he knows it better based on some of the plays we’ve seen at OTAs. He’s definitely more advanced, so I believe he’ll make progress this season and play more consistently.”
Taylor intercepted his first two NFL passes, had his first career sack, forced his first fumble, defended 14 passes, posted six tackles for loss, and totaled 75 tackles while playing all 17 games, 13 of which he started.
However, Taylor, a notoriously harsh self-evaluator, frequently focused on the negatives rather than the positives. This season, he’ll face competition from rookie Kool-Aid McKinstry, who will work in the slot and outside corner during training camp.
“It is different. “You’re down there, you’ve got linemen pulling at you, you’re hitting gaps downhill, dealing with running backs,” Woods explained. “There’s a physical aspect to tackling that requires you to play like a linebacker while also being able to cover slot receivers.”