The In-House Solution for the Vikings Corner Subtractions
K. Joudry
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The Vikings corner subtractions really did add up.
Surprisingly, the team didn’t do too much to fix up their corner situation during the offseason. Instead, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah pursued a passive approach, saying goodbye to Patrick Peterson, Cameron Dantzler, Duke Shelley, Kris Boyd, and Chandon Sullivan. A pile of snaps – 2,989 to be exact – went out the door.
Onboarding Byron Murphy certainly helps, and the Joejuan Williams + John Reid signings do increase the competition. Moreover, the team will be looking to a combination of rookies and sophomores – Andrew Booth Jr., Akayleb Evans, Mekhi Blackmon, Jay Ward – to soak up snaps in the Brian Flores defense.
There’s another strategy, though, to help address all of the missing snaps: amplify the safety position.
The Vikings Corner Subtractions
Admittedly, the strategy carries some risk. Generally speaking, defensive coordinators would be far more amenable to a deep, talented group of corners than robust talent at safety. Flores, though, will need to make due with what he has.
Vikings fans shouldn’t be altogether unfamiliar with the approach.
Minnesota’s defense was undergoing a massive overhaul going into the 2020 season. Gone were corners like Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, and Terence Newman. The hope was that Mike Hughes and Holton Hill could seize the day, rising to the challenge by occupying the top two corner spots as rookies Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler got acclimated to the NFL.
Making the situation easier were Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris, both of whom were coming off of excellent seasons.
Unfortunately, the wheels fell off for that defense, largely due to a major step back in the secondary. Hill and Hughes both battled injuries. Harris couldn’t get back to his top-tier play from the year prior. And, of course, the front of the defense was considerably less potent (Danielle Hunter missed the entire season), meaning the pass rush couldn’t help in the same way as yesteryear.
Zimmer, a proud defensive coach, finished the season with a group that allowed an average of 29.7 points per game, 29th in the NFL.
Hopefully, history doesn’t repeat itself for the 2023 Vikings. And, to be sure, there are some notable differences.
For starters, the team isn’t trying to maintain defensive excellence. Quite the opposite, in fact. The team’s defense has been very poor for three seasons. Anything resembling basic competence would be a welcome change in the mind of many Vikings fans.
Plus, the team does have at least one established starter: recent FA signing Byron Murphy. The former Cardinal has a heavy burden to carry, but he has been upbeat throughout the offseason. Making the jump from Arizona to Minnesota seems to make the corner happy (can you blame him?).
The situation at safety also appears to have some notable differences. The position is bursting at the seams with talent.
Everyone will think of The Hitman, and for good reason. Even at 34, he’s still an excellent defender. He tied a career high in interceptions by snatching 5 footballs away from quarterbacks in 2022. He added on 10 PDs and 85 tackles. Expect him to be much more active around the line of scrimmage in the upcoming season, allowing him to boost his blitz totals and to pick up TFLs.
Working alongside Smith is a trio of safeties who all offer great potential. Camryn Bynum (a college corner) played every defensive snap last season, Lewis Cine (a 1st-round selection) seems like the perfect fit for Flores given his aggressive style, and Josh Metellus (whom Kwesi described as a “core pillar“) brings the physicality and versatility that will endear him to the new DC.
Put simply, there’s too much talent at safety to see only a pair on the field on a weekly basis. Expect Flores to mix in the depth options and even to lean on personnel packages that get a trio of safeties onto the field.
At the end of the day, a player’s position doesn’t really matter. A safety capable of giving the defense quality coverage is better than a corner who isn’t. The GM, HC, and DC haven’t done too much to beef up the corner depth, so the expectation must be that the safeties will shine in 2023.
The Week 1 game will take place against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. My prediction is that we’ll see Smith and Cine start with Metellus functioning as a versatile weapon who moves all over the defense.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
