The Vikings Decision That’s Still a Bit Baffling
K. Joudry
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No shortage of Vikings fans have some concerns about Minnesota’s defensive backfield. An earlier Vikings decision has made the situation even worrisome.
Last year, quarterbacks regularly lit up the Vikings defense. QBs like Mike White (369 yards), Mac Jones (382 yards), Jared Goff (330 yards), Daniel Jones (334 yards) & Teddy Bridgewater (329 yards)* cut through the Vikings’ secondary like a lightsaber cutting through Obi Wan’s suddenly-lifeless cloak. Yes, the defense was awful, but there were some players who did perform admirably.
One such player was Duke Shelley, a young corner who is now with the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Vikings Decision and The Corner Who Got Away
Duke Shelley began his career with the Chicago Bears. He was picked 205th overall in the 2019 draft, so he had to earn his spot in the NFL.
He joined the Vikings while the 2022 season was just getting going. Given the modest start to his career, Shelley failed to generate too much fanfare. By the end of the season, though, Vikings fans knew exactly who Shelley was.
Standing at just 5’9″ and weighing 176 pounds, Shelley is definitely on the smaller side for corners. Quite often, teams would put that size to the test. Just consider the pair of photos included above. Shelley is duking it out (pun intended) with Chase Claypool (6’4″, 238) and Christian Watson (6’5″, 200). Therein lies the brilliance of Duke Shelley: he was never intimidated by the receiver lining up opposite him.
By the end of the season, PFF had given Shelley the 4th-best grade among qualifying corners. His 82.9 grade was just a bit below the leading trio of Sauce Gardner, Patrick Surtain II, and Jalen Ramsey. Obviously, Shelley isn’t on the same level as those players, but he did have an excellent season.
Across his 397 snaps on defense, Shelley held opposing QBs to just a 45.7 completion percentage when targeting him. He didn’t allow a touchdown all season and QBs had a very modest 55.2 passer rating when going after him.
He finished his year with 5 starts in 11 games played. He had 31 tackles, 8 PDs, and an interception (the first of his career).
Apparently, the Vikings didn’t make it a priority to keep the corner in Minnesota. At 26, Shelley is young enough to stick around for a little while, but the corner instead pivoted toward an opportunity in Las Vegas.
He had to settle for a prove-it deal that’s paying him just $1.3 million in the upcoming season. Given some of Minnesota’s uncertainty at corner, Shelley would have been a low-risk, low-cost veteran to compete for a starting spot opposite Byron Murphy. Instead, he’ll try to take the next step in his career by showing off what he can do in Las Vegas.
Right now, Murphy is the only sure thing for the Vikings corners. Some combination of Akayleb Evans, Andrew Booth Jr., Mekhi Blackmon, Jay Ward, and Joejuan Williams will need to fill in the other corner responsibilities.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
* Skylar Thompson also played in that game, putting up 89 yards passing.
