Alontae Taylor has had to keep his mental bag packed in the NFL, even though the commute has been short.
In short order, he was drafted as a cornerback in the second round in 2022 and competed with Paulson Adebo at that position but moved to slot cornerback at the end of training camp, when the New Orleans Saints traded Bradley Roby in a move to get Taylor's talent on the field.
He moved outside for extended cameos in '22 and '23 due to injuries to Adebo and Marshon Lattimore and entered '24 having finally fully embraced the slot position. But injuries to Adebo and Lattimore allowed Taylor to shift back outside against Carolina and, after the Saints traded Lattimore to Washington on Tuesday, outside corner is Taylor's new permanent residence.
He'll start there Sunday, when the Saints (2-7) play the Falcons (6-3) at noon in the Caesars Superdome.
"I take this position and this situation with gratitude," Taylor said. "I'm grateful for it and I've got the next eight weeks to kind of prove that I can be that CB1 for this team.
"I don't know what the long-term plans are, but I know for the short-term plan this is where I'm at, so I'm going to go out there and dominate and hold my side of the field down."
He was equal to the task against Carolina, with three pass breakups and four tackles.
"I've always said this since I walked in the building, I'm a corner," Taylor said. "I can play the nickel and I kind of see things like, 'Alontae is a slot corner.' It's like, before, it was, 'He's a corner, why are we moving him to nickel.' Now I do decently well at nickel and now it's, I'm a nickel.
"But at the end of the day I'm a corner at heart, and so I'm super excited for the opportunity. These next eight weeks we play some pretty good teams, they've got good receivers and my covering ability and all those things will be tested and I'm looking forward to it."
For Taylor, the embrace of slot didn't come without resistance. Even though the Saints traded Roby and moved Taylor to the starting lineup in the position as a show of confidence in him, he didn't always have that same confidence in himself.
But the complete buy-in came with impressive results this season: seven passes defensed, four sacks, two forced fumbles and 44 tackles in the first eight games.
"I just bought in to being a nickel at the time, but I'm a corner at heart," he said. "So it was just a matter of time that when I got my opportunity back outside that I was going to seize that moment and do what I've got to do.
"I honed in and I embraced being the nickel, that was my role and if I get moved in there at some point in time throughout my career for the rest of the time, then OK, cool. But corner, I'm always comfortable. That's where I'm supposed to be and for the next eight weeks I know for sure that's where I'm going to be at, so I'm going to perfect my craft and get better.
"The experience was great, the time that I spent there was fun but now I'm back outside, I'm back at home. So we need some lockdown corners on this side of the ball, I feel I'm that guy."
Organizational actions suggest that the Saints agree, having traded away a second player to clear a path for Taylor.
"(Executive Vice President/General Manager) Mickey (Loomis) and all those guys, I feel like they made the best decision by drafting me in the second round two years ago," Taylor said. "It's for me to go out there and prove they didn't make a mistake by doing that.
"And so, to see those guys put me in these situations and have this much trust and faith in me, it means a lot. I take it with gratitude and I take it as a blessing."
