Beleaguered Vikings Corner Snags Praise for “Disruptive Hands”
Playing corner often comes down to having great feet, hands, and eyes. Blazing speed doesn’t hurt, either, and neither does excellent length. Technique, though, is of the utmost importance.
Vikings corner Akayleb Evans has been through a lot. He started 2023 wonderfully, securing a starting spot and looking like a long-term starter as an outside corner in Minnesota. The tail end of the season, though, ended up going poorly, so much so that he was benched. Going into 2024, Evans looks like a starter yet again, so the word about his “disruptive hands” qualifies as good news.
Vikings Corner Akayleb Evans Playing with “Disruptive Hands”
Craig Peters of the Vikings’ website offers the word.
Under the heading “Disruptive hands,” Peters relays the description of the solid play: “Akayleb Evans was able to disrupt a pass intended for Addison in the red zone, and he secured the football after a ricochet.” More disrupted receptions and ricochet interceptions would be a welcome development for Brian Flores’ defense.
Shortly thereafter, Peters tosses praise over to CB1 Byron Murphy Jr., who also had a nice pass defended: “Byron Murphy, Jr., came up with one of the best pass breakups of the day when he played a deep pass to Nailor cleanly to deny a catch on third-and-8.”
Video of the Murphy play:
Murphy is Minnesota’s clear-cut best corner. Unless something totally unforeseen happens, Flores is going to lean on Murphy to move all over the defense. He’s versatile and quick, allowing him to have some success as the top option. What about Evans?
Recently, Flores talked about his young corner, offering upbeat positivity and praise. The DC is impressed not just by Evans’ physical stature but also his growth.
“I thought Akayleb did a lot of good things last year,” Flores notes, “I think there was a lot of growth and improvement from him.” The DC goes on to note the “ups and downs” before mentioning getting “banged up.” “That’s life in the NFL, and I think he’s bounced back,” Flores goes on to explain.
Part of the reason for optimism is what Evans can do with his size: “I’m excited about Akayleb. You can’t teach that height, that length, and his speed. And like all of us, he’s working to be as consistent as he can possibly be […] I think he plays best when he’s having a good time, and so let’s go out here and have fun.”
Last year, Minnesota’s defense finished as the last place team in the NFL for completion percentage allowed. The defense as a whole allowed 70.3% of passes to be completed; individually, Evans allowed 70.4% of passes into his coverage to be completed. In other words, seeing some more disruptive hands from Evans can hopefully lead to improvement individually and collectively.
The first depth chart lists Akayleb Evans as the third corner.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference 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.
