Camryn Bynum is Playing the Best Football of His Career
K. Joudry
|
Yes, the missed INT stings, but that single play doesn’t overshadow an important reality: Camryn Bynum is playing the best football of his career.
Only 25, the college corner and NFL safety perfectly fits into Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s vision for the Vikings. Minnesota isn’t devoid of talent but they’re far from being a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The GM’s hope, then, is to add (and keep) players with the requisite age to help now and in the future. That’s the path he chose when bringing in T.J. Hockenson, Josh Oliver, Byron Murphy, and Marcus Davenport.
A year after only picking up 81 tackles, Bynum is already up to 51 after just five games. In other words, the safety is averaging a touch above 10 tackles per game. Decisive and physical, Bynum looks at home in the Brian Flores defense.
The summer months featured plenty of speculation that the safety wouldn’t be sticking around Minnesota. After all, he was a Spielman pick who could be cut for some modest cap savings. The presence of Lewis Cine and Jay Ward — both Kwesi picks — made the idea pretty easy to accept, especially since Harrison Smith and Josh Metellus were locked-in as major players for the defense.
I was among those who explored the idea, but the safety has been proving a lot of people wrong.
Camryn Bynum is More Than Earning His Keep
The 51 tackles stand out. Of that there can be little doubt.
What’s also impressive is that he’s up to 2 TFLs, 2 PDs, and 1 FF. A good portion of the time, Bynum is playing deep; he has picked up 169 snaps at free safety. Flores, though, isn’t leaving his talented safety just in a deep zone. Bynum has 19 snaps along the defensive line, 60 in the box, 91 as a slot corner, and 9 as a wide corner.
Even more impressive is that he’s sitting at 348 snaps on defense, which is 100% of the team’s total. Last season, he was similarly durable, getting 1,161 snaps (once again, 100% of the total). Clearly, the 2021 4th-round selection has something figured out when it comes to versatility and durability.
He ran a 4.58 forty leading up to the draft, partially explaining the switch from corner to safety. Those speed limitations would make him vulnerable to the NFL’s Tyreek Hills but it’s sufficient for someone at safety, especially since the safety doesn’t lack for brains or hustle.
A year after allowing 8 TDs into his coverage, Camryn Bynum hasn’t allowed a touchdown in 2023. He’s allowing 80.6% of passes into his coverage to be completed, but he’s holding pass catchers to just 8.3 yards per reception. While under the tutelage of Ed Donatell, Bynum allowed an average of 16.5 yards per catch, almost twice as much as the current rate.
Playing on the third year of his rookie contract, Bynum has a meagre $1,119,453 cap charge. Next season, that numbers jumps to a still modest $1,234,453. Don’t be at all surprised if Adofo-Mensah looks to rectify the issue by handing over a reasonably hefty extension. Partnering Bynum with Josh Metellus for the next several years looks to be a winning combination.
And, let’s not forget, Lewis Cine and Jay Ward are still young fellas on rookie deals (though the former will need to regain the coaching staff’s trust). The future at safety looks promising.
Next up for Bynum is a date with the Chicago Bears. Somehow corralling Justin Fields and D.J. Moore is the task that’s in front of the safety. His play in 2023 suggests he’ll be doing his part.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.