Cardinals Must Contain These 4 Saints Weapons

Welcome to the renewal of our "Players to watch" series, where we take a look at the Arizona Cardinals' opponents and break down opposing players to monitor. Those players can be the best of the best, maybe some relative unknowns, or even guys that are just getting their first opportunities.

Whatever it may be, I'm here to spotlight those guys.

This season, we are changing it up and instead of noting three total players, we will look at two players for each side of the ball. We will also note the opposing quarterback separately, as it would be lazy to list them every week on the offensive side of things.

New Orleans Saints to Watch vs Arizona Cardinals

New Orleans Saints QB Spencer Rattle — Aug 23, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler (2) during warmups at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Saints are up first for the Cardinals to kick off the 2025 season. The expectations for New Orleans are nearly nonexistent, but that doesn't mean they can be overlooked. Every professional football team has talent, and the Saints are no exception.

If the Cardinals hope to start the year off in the win column, they need to keep an eye on the following four players. First, we have to mention the Saints' season-opening starting quarterback, a local kid many will remember from high school: Spencer Rattler.

A note on the quarterback: Spencer Rattler
Rattler started six games last season and lost all of them. He's a Valley native and a former highly recruited high school product, but he has struggled since then. The tools are there for Rattler to be good enough, but he's not shown the goods to back that up.

Against a revamped Cardinals defense, Rattler will look to prove that he was the right choice to be the opening season starter for the Saints.

Rashid Shaheed

New Orleans WR Rashid Shahee — Oct 13, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (22) returns a punt for a touchdown during the second quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Shaheed was limited to just six games last year, but he posted 349 yards and three touchdowns with a whopping 17.5 yards per reception average. He's the definition of a deep threat for an offense and is arguably the Saints' most explosive weapon. He's also an elite punt returner, with one return touchdown in each of the last two seasons.

The Cardinals invested a lot into their defense to prepare for dynamic players like Shaheed this offseason, so getting a test right out of the gate is quite the way to open the season. Even with pedestrian quarterbacks, Shaheed can make something happen -- meaning Arizona cannot overlook him under any circumstance.

Kelvin Banks Jr.

The rookie first-rounder was my top offensive lineman for this draft for good reason, as he looks ready to join the ranks of the best of the best blindside blockers in the league from day one. Banks was prolific at Texas, allowing just two sacks in three seasons in Austin -- all of which he started. His arrival to New Orleans also let the team move last year's first-round offensive tackle, Taliese Fuaga, back to his natural spot on the right side. In theory, New Orleans should have stabilized its offensive line.

Banks is in for quite a challenge in his first game with Pro Bowler Josh Sweat lining up opposite him. Sweat is tasked with being the Cardinals' star pass rusher, and he has a chance to give Banks his first "Welcome to the NFL, rookie" moment, hopefully more than once.

Bryan Bresee

New Orleans Saints DL Bryan Brese — Dec 29, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Bryan Bresee (90) reacts to making a tackle against the Las Vegas Raiders during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Bresee is the best interior defensive lineman you aren't talking about. The Clemson product posted 7.5 sacks last season after a solid 4.5 sack rookie campaign. He enters year three now, and the best has seemingly yet to come. Bresee is the heir apparent to future Hall of Famer Cameron Jordan, who he seemingly surpassed last season. 2025 could be the year he breaks into the mainstream.

The interior of the Cardinals' offensive line is fine, but how will they handle someone of Bresee's caliber? The former first-round pick will be one of the biggest obstacles, literally and figuratively, that Arizona will be forced to overcome.

Kool-Aid McKinstry

Alontae Taylor is a stud and should start the year as the team's No.1 cornerback, however, all eyes will be on McKinstry. The former second-round pick had cache coming out of Alabama aside from his awesome nickname, as he was a standout cover man in three seasons with the Tide, but he never took the next step after an elite freshman season. It led to a slide to day two, where New Orleans snatched him up with the 41st overall pick.

There is tons of hype surrounding McKinstry, and after taking a year to develop and see the field more down the stretch, he's set to be one of the team's most-watched players.

The Cardinals want to get Marvin Harrison Jr. more involved this season, and he has a chance to strut his stuff against a mediocre Saints' secondary. Harrison vs. McKinstry should be quite the battle of talented youngsters.