Feb 28, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Louisville defensive back Quincy Riley (DB28) participates in drills during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
It’s not very often that a player is drafted in the fourth round of the NFL Draft and immediately earns the tag of a potential starter. Usually, day three of the draft is more of a “special teams day” after a certain point. But with the great talent and depth of the 2025 draft class, the New Orleans Saints may have landed a starting cornerback in Quincy Riley out of Louisville.
It may not happen immediately for the 5-foot-10 ball-hawking corner, but it isn’t hard to see that Riley could work his way up to the starting boundary tandem in the coming years. There are three major factors to consider when it comes to Riley that make a quick leap to a starting role a real possibility.
Ball-Hawking Ability
New Orleans Selects Louisville DB Quincy Riley 131st Overall
⚜️ 23 Forced Incompletions Since 2023 (2nd Among CBs) pic.twitter.com/vyMIr86hzb
— PFF College (@PFF_College) April 26, 2025
Quincy Riley is a ballhawk, something New Orleans has not had on its roster for some time.
His 15 career interceptions led the 2025 rookie class of cornerbacks and he piled up an incredible 54 passes defended over 55 games played.
Not only does Riley make plays on the ball at a high rate, he can make plays after taking the ball away as well. Per The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, the Louisville corner had 403 career interception return yards while no one else in his class had more than 245. He has a propensity to not just take the ball away, but be a threat with it in his hands.
While not every one of those picks was returned for a touchdown, he certainly showed that he can get his offense some positive field position when given the opportunity.
He Plays Well Against The Run
While he has some missed tackles on his ledger, he is always a willing run defender on the perimeter. He had six tackles for a loss over the last three years in Louisville and never shied away from getting involved and helping to buy time for his defensive teammates to swarm the ball.
He has also shown promise in attacking the flats in the passing game. Whether going after a running back on an outlet or checkdown pass or tracking down and blowing up a screen play, Riley fires as if from a cannon when he gets a beat on what’s coming from the opposing offense.
Good aggressiveness from Louisville CB 3 Quincy Riley to get through this block and make the tackle on the screen. pic.twitter.com/QNlyNgYT68
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) January 14, 2025
That has also led him to making some unique plays in college. Against Georgia Tech, he crashed down on a rushing quarterback that looked to lateral a pass to the outside. His aggressive nature led to him deflecting the lateral, which turned into a scoop and score for his defense.
Clean Game
Riley was not called for a penalty in any of his final 23 games.
New Orleans has consistently been one of the more penalized defenses in the league. From defensive holding to defensive pass interference, players, coaches and fans alike have likely held their breath every time a play was made in the secondary in the hopes that a yellow flag didn’t find its way on to the field.
Riley has found a way to avoid such plays at a shockingly consistent rate. He understands the fundamentals of the game very well and uses them to his advantage. This may be a fact about him that changes in the NFL, as the league tends to be more flag-happy than college, but if it doesn’t and he is able to keep the laundry off of the field, that’s a major win for the Saints in their defensive backfield.
