Pros and cons of New Orleans Saints picking Alabama's Kool-Aid McKinstry in 2024 NFL Draft
Former Alabama football cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry is officially an NFL rookie after being picked by the New Orleans Saints in the 2024 NFL draft.
McKinstry was selected No. 41 overall in the second round. He was was a three-year regular in the Alabama secondary and entered the draft after his junior season, but his pre-draft preparation was slowed by a Jones fracture in his foot.
Here's what McKinstry brings to the Saints, based on his career at Alabama.
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What Kool-Aid McKinstry brings to the New Orleans Saints in 2024 NFL Draft
At 5-11 1/2 and 199 pounds, McKinstry has good size for the position and understands the importance of leverage and length in covering bigger wide receivers. He'll be expected to start immediately and has the coverage skills to do just that. A top high school recruit from the Birmingham area, McKinstry is also a solid run defender and was occasionally used as a blitzer. He should also bring a special teams presence at the pro level, whether it's in a return role or not.
McKinstry highlights, strengths, weaknesses at Alabama
McKinstry drew plenty of honors as a junior, including first-team All-America status from multiple services. He broke up a career-high three passes against Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl to cap an outstanding sophomore year. McKinstry routinely broke up passes in UA's bigger games, with one each last season against Texas, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and in the SEC title game against Georgia. He notched a sack in Alabama's Iron Bowl win over Auburn his freshman year in 2021, and another in Alabama's road win at Texas the following season. He is well-suited to play outside and was a regular there at Alabama, but his only experience as a nickelback came in practice. That could limit his versatility at the NFL level, at least early in his career. McKinstry broke several big punt returns as a sophomore, including a stretch of three games in which he returned at least one punt for 40-plus yards. However, he also had ball security problems in the return game, particularly as a junior in 2023, and was replaced mid-season.
McKinstry stats at Alabama
McKinstry made 93 career tackles over three seasons at Alabama, five for losses, with two interceptions and 23 pass breakups. He also returned 35 punts for 418 yards for a robust average of 11.9 yards per return. His most productive season came as a sophomore in 2022, when he broke up 15 passes and averaged 15.8 yards on 21 punt returns.
McKinstry's NFL comparison
San Francisco 49ers CB Charvarius Ward.
Reach Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Saints draft Kool-Aid McKinstry in 2024 NFL Draft: Pros, cons of pick
