Paulson Adebo has 'taken the next step as a cornerback' going into Year 2

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Sometime after running a route in practice Monday morning, New Orleans Saints receiver Tre’Quan Smith sidled up to his position coach, Kodi Burns, to share something he’d observed: Paulson Adebo has grown up.

The tell was subtle, but Smith could sense it unfolding in the split second it took him to cover 10 yards while running a route. With each stride Smith took, he could sense Adebo narrowing the possibilities in his mind.

“I got past 10 yards and he started hugging me closer,” Smith said. “I felt like, now he’s understanding there ain’t no way I’m fitting to run a slant — I’m way past a slant. There ain’t no way I’m going to run a hitch or an out. He’s starting to eliminate routes.

“He’s maturing. He’s understanding 'There’s no way he can run this, or this.' He’s very smart.”

Adebo’s maturation has been one of the more dominant storylines in the first days of training camp. His stated goal heading into his second year is to be more consistent from snap to snap, and that includes focusing in on those small details while running full speed in coverage.

"He’s really stepped his game up to this point at camp,” coach Dennis Allen said.

It’s not like this is exactly out of nowhere. Adebo was a pleasant surprise in his rookie season.

He was a player some figured the Saints would bring along slowly after he opted out of his last year of college at Stanford, someone who could potentially develop into a starter. That thinking appeared especially sound when the Saints sent a future third-rounder to Houston for Bradley Roby before the start of the season.

But Adebo started Week 1 of last season while Roby was serving the last game of a suspension, and he played so well so early that he never relinquished the job.

And now maybe he’s ready to unveil the second surprising act.

Adebo is off to an excellent start in his second training camp. His improvement is showing up in the subtleties that Smith described, but also in the splash plays that are impossible to ignore, like the driving deflection he made of a Jameis Winston pass intended for Jarvis Landry to open up team drills Monday morning.

“Honestly, you couldn’t even tell, in my opinion, that he’s a second-year player because he’s so much farther along,” Smith said.

Adebo has never lacked confidence. It’s one of the traits that drew the Saints to him during the scouting process — confidence is the dominant quality in the Saints’ defensive back room — and likely part of the reason for his early success.

But the meaning of that word is different to Adebo now than it was at this time a year ago.

“The confidence comes with putting in the work, seeing it on tape, seeing it translate,” Adebo said. “Naturally the more you do, the more experience you get, the confidence comes more and more.”

You could see it when he lined up opposite Saints receivers in a one-on-one drill during Monday’s practice. With Pro Bowler Marshon Lattimore sitting the drill out, Adebo often drew the marquee matchup.

He went toe-to-toe with Pro Bowler Jarvis Landry, and hung tight as Landry made a contested catch. On his next rep, he suffocated top rookie Chris Olave with press coverage, never letting Olave get into his route and erasing any idea of a completed pass. To close things out, he got in Olave’s face once again and then ran stride-for-stride with the Ohio State speedster, forcing him to the sideline on a deep route that resulted in an incomplete pass out of bounds.

That sequence effectively summed up the way Adebo and the Saints defensive backs want to play.

“As a secondary, we want to have that mentality: Coming down and challenging guys every rep,” Adebo said. “If you catch the ball on me, it’s going to be hard. We’re not trying to give anybody easy releases or anything like that.”

Adebo’s progress has been so apparent that people outside his position group are pointing it out as obvious. Smith has noticed it. So has linebacker Demario Davis.

Davis has noticed the way Adebo studies the game. He has noticed Adebo staying on the field after practice for more work. He has noticed a player who wants to be good.

“Clearly you can see, if you’re watching practice, he has taken the next step as a cornerback,” Davis said. “That’s exciting. He had a great rookie campaign, and you can tell he’s not stopping there. He’s taking the next step.”