There May Be an Early Starting Favorite in the Vikings CB Room
Josh Frey
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The Minnesota Vikings took the field for their first training camp practice on Wednesday.
One of the major position battles that fans are paying attention to as camp begins is the cornerback spot. Minnesota signed Byron Murphy in free agency, who seems like the CB1 heading into the new season, but outside of that, just about every spot in the room is up for grabs. However, there may be an early starting favorite at the position.
There was a development in the battle right out of the gates on Wednesday. According to a report from Alec Lewis of The Athletic, it was Joejuan Williams who got many of the snaps with the starters on Wednesday. Lewis tweeted on Wednesday evening, “Another note from #Vikings training camp practice: Looked like CB Joejuan Williams, the former New England Patriot who was drafted in the second round, got lots of snaps with the 1s. Williams is listed at 6-3, 212. He’s massive.”
Williams, like Murphy, is entering his fifth NFL season after being selected by the Patriots in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Prior to becoming the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores spent 15 years in various roles within the Patriots organization.
While he never got the chance to coach Williams in the Patriots organization, Flores certainly has had a trend of bringing in former players from the organization into his defenses over the years. During Flores’ final year as Dolphins head coach in 2021, there were five former Patriots who played at least 25% of the defensive snaps for Miami (Adam Butler, Justin Coleman, Jason McCourty, Elandon Roberts, Eric Rowe).
The likely reason behind this is the similarities between Flores’ defensive scheme and Bill Belichick’s in New England. Both tend to run blitz-heavy schemes while relying on man coverage in the secondary. If players already are familiar with what they need to do, they have an upper-hand on those trying to catch up.
Williams fits right into this mold, playing the majority of his snaps as a boundary CB in Belichick’s defenses during his early NFL career.
The CB was a very promising prospect coming into the league, but to this point, he has gotten very little chance to prove it. Williams has made just one start over his first four seasons, and he missed the entire 2022 campaign due to injury.
Now, it seems he is finally getting his chance to shine early on in training camp. Of course, a position battle as fierce as the one at corner won’t be decided in one day, but Williams getting early reps with the starters is certainly notable moving forward.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.