Player
Kool-Aid McKinstry
CB · Saints
Kool-Aid McKinstry: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
Rookie 6 PDs in 12 games → 17 PDs in 17 games as a sophomore: nearly tripled the contest rate.
TrendMcKinstry by season (regular season, NO)
| Season | G | Tackles | TFL | PDs | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 12 | 31 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| 2025 | 17 | 58 | 3 | 17 | 0 |
A 2024 2nd-round pick (#41 overall, the Saints traded up), McKinstry started immediately but missed time mid-season. 2025 was the full-volume year: 17 starts, 58 tackles, 17 pass defenses — the kind of leap that suggests he's the long-term answer at boundary corner in New Orleans.
17 PDs in a single season is top-10 in the league at the position — particularly impressive given the Saints' rebuild meant a lot of trailing-game-script snaps where the opposing offense was running the ball.
PDs by season
| Season | PDs |
|---|---|
| 24 | 6 |
| 25 | 17 |
Career-high 5 PDs in a single 2025 game vs. ATL — among the highest single-game contest counts in the NFL last season.
MilestoneIn a 2025 game against Atlanta, McKinstry posted 5 pass defenses — a top-tier single-game contest line that few corners reach in a full *season*, let alone in 60 minutes.
It's the kind of performance that gets a young corner into Pro Bowl voting conversation. The 17-PD season was built on multiple multi-PD games: 3 vs NYG, 3 vs TB, and several 2-PD outings — not just one outlier.
58 tackles + 3 TFLs in 2025 — adds run-fit production to the coverage line.
SplitCoverage alone makes a corner average. Coverage plus run support makes a corner a long-term starter. McKinstry's 2025 line — 58 tackles, 3 TFLs — shows he's playing the boundary like a 4-3 OLB on outside zone runs, getting downhill to set the edge.
Most #1 outside corners in the league had 0 or 1 TFLs in 2025. McKinstry had 3, including a TFL vs CHI and MIA where he came off the receiver to make a tackle behind the line.
Top-10 PD season as a 22-year-old — historically a strong indicator of an All-Pro track.
Rare17 pass defenses by age 22 puts McKinstry in a small group of historical sophomore corners — guys like Marlon Humphrey, Pat Surtain II, and Sauce Gardner had similar sophomore PD totals before becoming top-of-position contracts.
The Saints traded a future first-round pick to draft him at #41 in 2024 — the early-career return on that call is now firmly in the green.
Played all 17 games in 2025 — first full season after missing 5 games as a rookie.
AnomalyThe 5 missed rookie games (lower-body injury) were the only concern in his early NFL profile. A full 17-game 2025 slate — durability across a rebuild season with no playoff motivation — resets that question entirely.
90 career tackles + 23 PDs in just 29 games is a 0.79-PD-per-game pace. Maintained over a full 17-game career, that's a Pro Bowl ceiling.
23 career PDs in 29 games — better per-game pace than Nate Wiggins through the same window.
Comparison2024 class CB comparison (career PDs/G)
| Player | Games | PDs | PD/G |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kool-Aid McKinstry | 29 | 23 | 0.79 |
| Nate Wiggins | 34 | 27 | 0.79 |
The two top-50 corners from the 2024 draft (McKinstry #41, Wiggins #30) are in a virtual tie on PD volume per game: 0.79 each through their first 2 seasons. Wiggins has more total games (no rookie injuries); McKinstry's sophomore-year jump (6 → 17 PDs) was steeper.
Different schemes (Ravens man, Saints zone), same per-snap output. Both are on first-team-CB1 trajectories.
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