The strength of the New Orleans Saints is the secondary. The strength of the team has one vacancy and it’s quickly becoming one of the more confusing spots on the team.
Marshon Lattimore and Paulson Adebo are starting at outside corner and Alontae Taylor is in the slot. Kool-Aid McKinstry provides depth at both positions. Tyrann Mathieu is starting at free safety, but who will be next to him?
The preseason would tell you Will Harris. The head coach, Dennis Allen, would tell you that he won’t tell you. The unofficial depth chart would tell you Jordan Howden. Johnathan Abram being called up from the practice squad wouldn’t even surprise me at this point.
Howden is listed as the starting strong safety on the Saints’ unofficial depth chart for Week 1. That’s a surprise because he seemed to be running third in the race for strong safety.
#Saints Week 1 depth chart lists Jordan Howden as safety starter next to Tyrann Mathieu.
They evoked the always fun “OR” for QB2, however. pic.twitter.com/zhmKDHIQnh
— Ross Jackson (@RossJacksonNOLA) September 3, 2024
Surprises happen, but that’s not the confusing part. Harris is listed as a free safety behind Mathieu. It just doesn’t add up with what we had been seeing alignment-wise.
It’s important to remember it is unofficial. Harris and Howden will likely see time in Week 1 at strong safety. Who gets the start will be noteworthy, but who gets the most snaps will tell the true story.
