Young Vikings Defender Knocks on the Door of Opportunity Once Again
A young Vikings defender will once again find himself knocking on the door of opportunity when the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings begin their tilt.
Andrew Booth Jr. has had a rocky start to his career. Coming out of college, the word was that few were as talented as the Clemson alumnus but injuries could be an issue. Health problems haven’t persisted into 2023, but the chances within the Brian Flores have still been scarce for Booth.
Earlier in the year, head coach Kevin O’Connell and defensive coordinator Brian Flores tossed some praise in the corner’s direction. The positive assessments coincided with a spike in playing time. What has been discouraging, though, is how short-lived the promotion was. In three of the last four games, Booth hasn’t played for the defense. The game where did get some time working for Flores resulted in just four snaps.
Losing Byron Murphy for the Lions game is a major subtraction. The CB1 gets significant usage both along the outside and in the slot, so the DC will need to be creative with how he deploys his defensive backs in Week 16. Mekhi Blackmon, despite his smaller stature, has almost exclusively been a boundary corner (312 snaps out wide, 17 in the slot). Akayleb Evans finds himself in a similar spot (551 snaps out wide, 23 in the slot).
Regardless of how the slot snaps get divvied up (keep an eye on the safeties), Minnesota will likely need another CB to step up. Does Booth get another shot?
Young Vikings Defender Knocks on the Door of Opportunity
At just 23, Andrew Booth still oozes potential.
He has some sneaky size at 6’0″, 194 pounds and he moves really well. The scouting report on the league’s website praises the corner’s “five-star measurables” while pointing toward some upside: “A press/zone combo corner with good size and length, Booth plays with an urgent, competitive nature. He has the strength, balance and foot agility to press and slow the release. He has limited starting experience, though. He will need more development to prevent route specialists from manipulating his feet and hips. Booth has the ball-tracking and play strength to find and maintain top-dog positioning through catch tries.”
The tremendous potential hasn’t yet translated into becoming someone deserving of a full-time job.
He has 73 defensive snaps in 2023 and has five tackles. Four of five passes into his coverage have been completed, allowing 31 yards in the process but no touchdowns. The very limited sample size has resulted in a 64.3 PFF grade.
The ideal Flores corner is going to be someone who is capable of being left in a one-on-one scenario with some consistency. Sending so many blitzes has meant that there isn’t always a ton of help for the corner. Being able to come up the field for a physical tackle is vital, as well.
Evans is going to be leaned on as the CB1 tomorrow and then Blackmon — who is legitimately having an excellent rookie season — is going to be tasked with CB2 responsibilities. The rest of the starting secondary will be comprised of the top three safeties: Harrison Smith, Josh Metellus, and Camryn Bynum.
The DC may then turn to Theo Jackson to get another defensive back onto the field. There will be moments, though, when another corner is preferable.
Seeing Joejuan Williams elevated from the practice squad seems likely. The veteran has tremendous size and more experience than the other available options. What will be discouraging is if Williams gets more time than Andrew Booth.
Andrew Booth’s career hasn’t gotten off to the start that he and the team were hoping to see. To his credit, he has continued to be active for games as a central special teams contributor. The Murphy subtraction points toward another chance to prove that he’s capable of helping a defense play winning defense on Sundays.
Kickoff takes place at 12 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and PFF 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.