Saturday means we are just one day away from the New Orleans Saints season opener. New Orleans has a road showdown against the Detroit Lions to begin the season. Wearing No. 1 for the Saints is Kool-Aid McKinstry, a third-year cornerback. McKinstry is on his fourth number. He wore 34 as a rookie in training camp, 14 during that regular season, and switched to 4 in 2025 before the change to No. 1, his collegiate number with the Alabama Crimson Tide. We now look at the career to date of our most recent Saints Player of the Day.
- Name (age): Ga'Quincy McKinstry (23)
- Hometown: Pinson, Ala.
- Position: Cornerback
- Height, weight: 5-foot-11, 199 pounds
- College: Alabama Crimson Tide
- Relative Athletic Score: 7.54
- Drafted: Round 2, 41st overall in 2024 (Saints)
- NFL experience: 2 years
- 2026 salary cap hit: $2.5 million
A five-star recruit at Pinson Valley High School, McKinstry returned both of his interceptions for touchdowns and accounted for over 700 yards and 11 scores as a receiver. Alabama won the recruiting battle for McKinstry,
who was the state's Mr. Football and USA TODAY Defensive Player of the Year as a high school senior. His grandmother nicknamed him Kool-Aid as a child, a moniker that's obviously stuck.
Kool-Aid McKinstry intercepted 1 pass and did enough to be named to the SEC All-Freshman squad in 2021. The following year, he'd earn 1st Team All-SEC honors by leading the conference with 15 passes broken up while adding an interception. McKinstry didn't record an interception in 2023, but his ability to lock down receivers earned him 1st Team All-American recognition.
A first-round talent, McKinstry slipped to Round 2 of the 2024 NFL draft and was taken by New Orleans with the ninth choice in the round. He was the fifth cornerback off the board. As a rookie, McKinstry appeared in 15 games and made nine starts, playing 65% of the defensive snaps. He didn't record an interception but broke up six passes and had 42 tackles with 2 for loss. More importantly, he allowed only 54.8% completion percentage when targeted in man coverage, the lowest of any Saints defensive back.
Heading into 2025, the Saints were looking to replace cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, and Shemar Jean-Charles. McKinstry was expected to take on a prominent role as the new primary corner and he responded strongly to that challenge. There were some early season inconsistencies with his timing in a new defensive system, but McKinstry settled in as the team's top defensive back by mid-season. He had interceptions and 17 pass breakups, leading the defense in both categories, while allowing a 58.7% completion percentage.
Kool-Aid McKinstry now looks to take the next step into the league's top echelon of cornerbacks. He's certainly shown the abilities in both man or off-ball coverage with an impressive blend of athleticism and instincts. McKinstry will undoubtedly be one of the key players in the 2026 Saints defense.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: Kool-Aid McKinstry is the Saints Player of Day 1
