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Saints pick Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry in 2nd round of 2024 NFL draft. What you need to know
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- Saints pick Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry in 2nd round of 2024 NFL draft. What you need to know
Correction/clarification: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story reported incorrectly the team that drafted Kool-Aid McKinstry . He was drafted by the Saints.
The New Orleans Saints selected Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry with the 41st pick in the 2024 NFL draft .McKinstry was a three-year regular in the Alabama secondary and entered the draft after his junior season.Here's everything you need to know about McKinstry.
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Kool-Aid McKinstry scouting report
McKinstry was a rock-solid man-to-man corner throughout his career and has the size and length to compete with big receivers. He's well-suited to play "on the island" as an outside cornerback and is a strong special teams player as well. His long speed is good but his quickness and ability to break on short passes is outstanding. A five-star recruit out of high school, he played his best season as a sophomore in 2022 when he broke up an impressive 15 passes. As a run defender, he uses good leverage to maintain containment against perimeter runs, and he's instinctive as a blitzer as well. McKinstry also has dynamic skills as a punt returner, but at times had ball security issues in that role, and lost the punt return job for that reason during his junior season.
Kool-Aid McKinstry height, weight
McKinstry, who is from Birmingham, Alabama, and went to Pinson Valley high school, is 5 feet,11 1/2 inches tall and weighs 199 pounds.
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Kool-Aid McKinstry college stats
During the 2023 season, McKinstry has 32 tackles, 2 TFLs, 0 INT and 7 PBUs. He totaled 2 INTs and 23 PBUs during his college career.
Kool-Aid McKinstry highlights
McKinstry was a first-team All-American per USA TODAY, the Associated Press, Pro Football Focus and others. He also was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation's top defensive back. His two career interceptions came against non-conference competition against Mercer and Austin-Peay.
Watch: McKinstry's college highlights
McKinstry routinely broke up passes in UA's bigger games, however, 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. As a sophomore, he recorded three breakups in a Sugar Bowl win over Kansas State, one at Texas and another at LSU. McKinstry broke several big punt returns as a sophomore as well, including a stretch of three games in which he returned at least one punt for 40-plus yards.
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Kool-Aid McKinstry NFL combine, pro day measurables
Alabama defensive back Kool-Aid McKinstry does a standing long jump at the Hank Crisp Indoor Practice Facility during the University of Alabama's Pro Day.
After a Jones fracture was discovered in McKinstry's foot, he was unable to perform in physical testing at the NFL Scouting Combine, but did attend the event to interview with teams. However, a few weeks later, he turned in a 4.47 40-yard dash at Alabama's Pro Day event to help lock down his draft standing. He also participated in the vertical jump (34-foot-5) and broad jump events (10-foot-1) at Pro Day.
Kool-Aid McKinstry pro comparison
San Francisco 49ers CB Charvarius Ward .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Saints pick Alabama's Kool-Aid McKinstry in 2024 NFL draft. What to know
