Kirkwood had 13 catches on 21 targets for 209 yards and two touchdowns in eight games in 2018.
An undrafted free agent from Temple, Kirkwood impressed the Saints coaching staff during training camp but was unable to crack the team's active roster. The rookie receiver spent the first half of the season on the Saints' practice squad, but upon being first activated in Week 10, Kirkwood immediately took over as the team's primary slot receiver. While his final statistics were nothing special, Kirkwood has good size at 6-foot-3 and the trust of Drew Brees and the Saints coaches, as he averaged 36 snaps per game in Weeks 15 and 16. With the team limiting his playing time in the meaningless Week 17 finale, it's clear that the Saints view him as an important piece to their title hopes and perhaps a key cog in their 2019 receiving corps.