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The New Orleans Saints are promoting cornerback Arthur Maulet from their practice squad, and will activate cornerback Ken Crawley for Sunday's game at the Carolina Panthers. This was announced after news broke that the Saints would be without cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore (concussion) and Sterling Moore (pectoral muscle), both injured in last week's loss to the Patriots.
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Maulet, a native of Kenner, Louisiana was an undrafted free agent from Memphis this past spring, that made the team after an impressive performance in OTAs, training camp, and a solid preseason. He is an aggressive 5-foot-10, 190-pound athletic corner with great leaping ability that will also help New Orleans as a special teams gunner.
Crawley is a 2nd year cornerback from Colorado that appeared in 15 games for the Saints last year, starting five. He did not have an interception in 2016, but was third on the team with 8 passes defended, second among the team's cornerbacks with 43 tackles, and both forced and recovered a fumble. Crawley had 5 tackles in a 41-38 Saints home victory over Carolina last season, but did not play in the rematch later that year. His 6-foot-1 frame and long arms could match up well against the bigger 6-foot-5 Carolina receivers Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess.
Crawley and Maulet join P.J. Williams and De'Vante Harris at cornerback in a New Orleans defensive backfield that has given up an average of 389 yards in each of its first two losses. We could see the Saints use Williams and Crawley on outside receivers Benjamin and Funchess, while Harris and Maulet would be more suited for coverage out of the slot. The Saints are expected to use safeties Marcus Williams, Vonn Bell and Kenny Vaccaro in more 3-safety sets.
The Panthers receivers are not as talented as what New Orleans faced in Minnesota and New England, and are even further weakened by the injury to All-Pro tight end Greg Olsen. Carolina quarterback Cam Newton often struggles with his accuracy, but the reeling Saints pass defense will be without their top cover man in the rookie Lattimore, along with the stable presence of the veteran Moore. The onus is on the New Orleans front seven to get pressure on Newton and force him into bad decisions, and "next man" up to turn around the performance of the Saints secondary.
Poll
Can Ken Crawley and Arthur Maulet help the secondary grind out a win?
This poll is closed
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48%
It can’t get much worse.
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21%
I’m skeptic until proven otherwise.
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30%
Them getting a shot is just what we need!