Alontae Taylor practices his defensive skills at the team's 2022 OTA practices

It’s obvious that Alontae Taylor is a quick study, because it didn’t take long for the New Orleans Saints’ second-round pick to find the right teammate to work with before and after practice.

The rookie cornerback simply looked on the field and found that Paulson Adebo – the Saints’ third-round pick from last season and a starter at cornerback as a rookie – was a kindred spirit. And so, post-OTAs practice, the two of them can be found on an end of the practice field in the end zone, working on techniques.

“I saw (Adebo) one day, we had workouts and then afterward, he was out there on the field,” Taylor said. “I’ve always been that kid who always does extra work and I saw him doing it and I was like, OK, that’s somebody that does the same thing that I do.

“I went up to him and I just asked him, ‘Do you mind if I join in?’ He was like, ‘Of course.’ So we work on small detail stuff; we work on press-man (coverage) all the time. We do it every day after practice, we do it before practice as well. A guy who’s going into his second year, but he’s taken me under his wing. I kind of look at him as a big brother right now.”

But the big brother sees the benefit flowing both ways.

“He’s teaching me some stuff, too,” Adebo said. “He’s a great athlete, smart, instinctive, good ball skills. Some things I teach him, some things he teaches me as well.

“I was out, he came in and was like, ‘Hey, let me jump in.’ And I’m the same way. Sometimes I see him, and I’m like, ‘Hey, let me jump in.’ He’s definitely wired that way, and he’s going to be great.”