Saints draft Louisville CB Quincy Riley in Round 4 of NFL Draft
04/26/2025
(Photo by Louisville Athletics)
By Ross Jackson
METAIRIE, La. – The New Orleans Saints have gone all-in on defense in rounds three and four of the NFL Draft.
With their No. 131 pick, the team selected Louisville cornerback Quincy Riley.
From @LouisvilleFB to the #Saints 🙌#SaintsDraft pic.twitter.com/cTOWGc943Z
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) April 26, 2025
The Saints visited with him during the pre-draft process. Riley said in his post-pick process that the visit taught him a lot and that the Saints’ coach (defensive passing game coordinator Terry Joseph), was tough.
“(Coach Joseph) came to see me at the school, we went on some film study,” he said. “He was tough on me but then we had long conversations at dinner and I understood where he was coming from a lot. He taught me so much just in that little hour we had together. So I was like, ‘Okay, I can play for somebody like him,’ because he reminds me of my coach I got at Louisville now.”
Riley is a talented, aggressive, and physical cornerback with a ton of ball production in his career. Between his years with Louisville and Middle Tennessee, he piled up 15 career interceptions and 40 passes defended, some stats tracking sites show 54 passes defended.
HE’S BACK!
Quincy Riley, one of the best cornerbacks in the ACC, is returning to Louisville for one more season🔥 pic.twitter.com/5btn9zYZhL
— Dalton Pence (@dpence_) January 12, 2024
Riley has a sneaky chance to be a starter in New Orleans right away. The team signed free agent cornerback Isaac Yiadom this offseason, who had a stellar 2023 season with the Saints before departing to the San Francisco 49ers. Yiadom could be the team’s starter this year, but also has a ton of special teams value as well.
Riley is a willing tackler in run support and plays a clean game, drawing just two flags in 2024, none of which were the result of his work in coverage (pass interference, etc).
New Orleans is now set to wait until the sixth round with the No. 184 selection, unless they trade up.