Will Harris elbows his way into Saints' competition at safety

The New Orleans Saints’ strong safety battle was believed to be between Johnathan Abram and Jordan Howden. At one point that may have been true, but it would be irresponsible to not insert Will Harris into the conversation after Sunday’s game with the San Francisco 49ers. Harris got the nod ahead of both players when the starting defense took the field.

With Dennis Allen’s lack of commitment to any player, this shouldn’t come as a surprise that players could make a late push to start next to Tyrann Mathieu.

There’s an argument to be made that Harris should be considered the frontrunner. He started the second preseason game, an honor that previously belonged to Abram the week before. Reports from camp have been that Harris was in the mix, and that was on full display on Sunday.

Howden looks to be firmly in last place, and he always felt like the odd man out. Howden is best suited to line up deep downfield, but that’s a role manned by Mathieu. Howden played at free safety next to Abram with the second unit, a clear display of where he stands in the pecking order at strong safety.

Howden’s missed tackle against Joshua Dobbs at the goal line was the exact mistake he couldn’t afford to make. It was a miscue in tackling and physicality. These are two traits Allen specified he is looking for from the position.

With one preseason game to go, Harris and Abram seem to be the most likely starters. It’ll be interesting to see who gets the nod against the Tennessee Titans next Sunday. All of this uncertainty makes missing out on Justin Simmons sting just a little bit more.