New Orleans Saints must count on backup corners Jason David, Usama Young
Posted by <A href="http://blog.nola.com/saintsbeat/about.html" _extended="true">Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune</A _extended="true"> November 12, 2008 7:59PM
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Saints
Chris Granger, The Times-PicayuneSecond-year cornerback Usama Young will likely have a chance to make up for lost time when the Saints play the Chiefs this Sunday.
This isn't exactly a dream scenario for the Saints, having to turn to underachieving cornerbacks Jason David and Usama Young with the season on the line. The secondary was struggling even before starter Mike McKenzie went down with a season-ending knee injury last Sunday and veteran backup Aaron Glenn aggravated a nagging ankle injury.
Now they're down to veteran Randall Yag, David and Young as their top three corners as they head into this Sunday's game at Kansas City -- the first of many must-win games the next seven weeks.
But if there is a silver lining to be found, perhaps being thrown in there will give David and Young a chance to spark their flickering careers.
"I think the NFL is a lot about opportunities and what you do when you get the chance and the opportunity to play, " said David, who could vault back into the starting lineup Sunday after being inactive for the past two games. "It's really rare in this league, not so much to get a second chance, but to get a second opportunity to show what you can do.
"I think one thing with me, I just enjoy playing football. Whether I'm inactive one week, just being out there in practice is a blessing, or playing special teams. And just having this opportunity again is a blessing, and hopefully I make the most of it."
David, 26, had an infamously rough season in 2007 after he signed with the Saints as a restricted free agent. He started 12 games and intercepted three passes, but he was repeatedly burned with deep passing plays.
He has shown some progress this season, playing well in some brief opportunities as the No. 3 nickel back. Last season he often got caught sneaking a peek into the backfield while receivers ran by him, but this season he has done a better job of keeping the receiver in front of him.
His best moment was an interception in Week 6 against Oakland. But when Glenn returned from his ankle injury in Week 8, David became the odd man out on the roster.
"I don't think it's a matter of making plays, " David said. "I think the plays will come to you if you're just doing the right thing, doing your job and in the right position."
Young, 23, was making excellent progress in training camp and was making a strong push for the nickel back job, but he suffered a hamstring injury in the second preseason game against Houston. The second-year pro from Kent State seemed to get lost in the shuffle after that.
The Saints kept seven cornerbacks on the roster to start the regular season, and Young didn't really work his way back into the mix until veteran Jason Craft was cut, Glenn injured his ankle and rookie Tracy Porter suffered a season-ending wrist injury.
"It did hurt, it did hurt, " Young said of the injury setback. "But now I've got a chance later, later, later on down the line.
"It's crazy. I was talking to some of the guys about that, if you remember when people were actually talking like, 'Why did they keep so many corners?' And now we're down to a very few, and we've had to pick up more (young backups Leigh Torrence and David Pittman, who were signed this week). So nobody thought it was going to turn out the way it has.
"You don't look forward to anyone going down, especially teammates, friends, but since they are, you've got to step up. That's what everyone is looking for you to do. Leaders went down, and you've got to stand up and make some plays."
The Saints drafted Young early in the third round last season because of his impressive display of athleticism in college and in pre-draft workouts. He has great speed and leaping ability, which has turned heads in each of the past two years of training camp.
But he has yet to translate it into his play consistently. Although he has emerged as one of the Saints' top special teams players, he has played sparingly on defense. He has been credited with just four career pass defenses and no interceptions.
Young was particularly disappointed with his performance last Sunday at Atlanta, and Coach Sean Payton said Young struggled. Though he didn't allow any blatant big plays, he said he made mental errors and didn't make any good plays on defense or special teams.
"When you get beat, those mistakes stand out even more, " Young said. "So I was just disappointed. I know that I can play better."
On the surface, Kansas City doesn't appear to have an imposing offense, but second-year quarterback Tyler Thigpen has been on a hot streak, throwing for six touchdown passes with no interceptions in his past three games.
The Chiefs have two dangerous receiving threats, tight end Tony Gonzalez, a mismatch against the Saints' safeties, and physical receiver Dwayne Bowe. Yag, who is the most physical of the Saints' corners, likely will match up often against Bowe, his former LSU teammate.
Although Yag also struggled last week at Atlanta, both Young and David know that Thigpen likely will throw at them often.
"They've been picking, picking, picking (on the entire secondary) throughout the year, so it's not going to stop now, " Young said. "We've got to make something negative happen for them to stop throwing the ball. We've got to make some plays."
