By Ross Jackson
NEW ORLEANS — Being a cornerback in the NFL is about more than just coverage. While coverage is the pinnacle responsibility, there are several ways to make noise from the position. That is especially true for corners who take their snaps from the slot.
New Orleans Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor has been a perfect example of this in 2024. Taylor, a career outside corner throughout his collegiate days, moved to the inside last year and struggled. This year, the story is very different.
While Taylor has been one of the most targeted slot corners in the league, a byproduct of having a shutdown cornerback like Marshon Lattimore on the outside, he has allowed some of the league’s fewest yards allowed on a per snap (third-lowest total) and per target (fourth-lowest total) basis, per Pro Football Focus among qualifying slot corners.
Additionally, he has contributed by making plays all over the field. So much so, that 33rd Team has ranked him as the NFL’s most disruptive defender through 7 weeks of action.
The title is derived from compiling the number of plays in which individual players achieved a sack, tackle for a loss, forced fumble, interception or pass break up. Taylor leads the league with 16 combined plays and is one of only four defensive backs among the 11 players to top the list.
Taylor’s 16 plays break out as: 3.5 sacks, 7 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles and 4 pass break ups. Because he was in on one half sack, that counts as an additional play.
Taylor has, without question, been one of the team’s best players. Not just one of the best defenders. He’s been one of the best Saints to take the football field so far this year.
It can be easy to focus on the amount of receiving yards he has surrendered. His 254 receiving yards allowed ranks No. 1 among the 24 NFL corners that have taken at least 100 snaps in the slot. However, expressing that number as what it is, contextual to the defensive system and produced by the lack of outside targets by opposing quarterbacks, is a necessary understanding one must have when quantifying Taylor’s contributions. Nuance is a must when investigating slot cornerback play.
Once that distinction has been applied, it’s easy to see the third-year cornerback for what he has been: one of the best slot cornerbacks in the NFL and the most disruptive defender through seven games.
