Saints Rookie Proving To Be Bright Spot In Dim Season

One thing that is important about the 2025 National Football League season for the New Orleans Saints is development.

After a last-place finish last year in the NFC South, the expectations heading into the 2025 season weren't exceptionally high for New Orleans. With that being said, a 1-6 start to the season is still somewhat surprising despite a coaching and quarterback change. Kellen Moore is leading the charge and Spencer Rattler is the team's quarterback. Last year at this time, Dennis Allen was the Saints' head coach and Derek Carr was with the team, but he missed time due to injury.

With significant transitions like that, you're not typically going to see a team immediately thrive. It takes time to build up a roster. Although the standings aren't great for the Saints there are positive takeaways. They have been competitive in most of their games and have some rookies on their hands that could end up being contributors for the team in the long run. Kelvin Banks Jr. is the rookie who has been talked about the most this season, but another rookie who has made the most of his opportunity is cornerback Quincy Riley.

He was selected in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Saints. He has played in all seven games this season for New Orleans, including two straight starts under his belt in place of the injured Isaac Yiadom.

Quincy Riley is making the most of his opportunity

Oct 5, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Quincy Riley (29), New Orleans Saints cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry (4), New Orleans Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor (1) and New Orleans Saints safety Jordan Howden (31) celebrate after an interception against the New York Giants during the fourth quarter at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Riley hauled in the first interception of his NFL career in Week 7 against the Chicago Bears and overall has had a pretty solid rookie season to this point. He's only been targeted seven times in coverage and is holding opposing quarterbacks to a 57.1 percent completion percentage. He has three passes defended, one forced fumble, and 11 total tackles as well on the season to go along with his interception.

The Saints' secondary had question marks heading into the season, outside of Kool-Aid McKinstry. Riley, at the very least, has been a bright spot for the team. He looks like a capable corner out there and is just seven games into his NFL career. Plus, he began the season just on the special teams. Riley already has transitioned into a more consistent role on the defense and it has paid off.

With the Saints sitting at 1-6, progress like this is what Saints fans should be looking for.

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