3 of the Vikings’ Defensive Players Who Need to Shine in Preseason Game #1
Stepping onto a field for a real game is what matters the most in the NFL, so the evidence that gets gleaned from the preseason is very important.
As a result, we’re highlighting 3 of the Vikings’ defensive players who will be looking to thrive against the Raiders on Saturday (see the offense’s 3 players). Of course, everyone wants to play well, but not every player is in the same spot for the roster competition. Someone like Harrison Phillips won’t see the field since he’s locked into his roster spot. There are others on the other end of the spectrum, long shots no matter how well they play. Below are three players who are on the bubble and who could realistically be cut or kept.
3 of the Vikings’ Defensive Players Who Need to Shine
Player #1 — Duke Shelley, CB
Genuinely, anything feels possible for Duke Shelley, an undersized corner with great scrappy competitiveness.
Standing at 5’8″ and weighing just 183 pounds, Shelley looks like a slot corner. The reality, though, is that he does better lining up along the outside. Will Brian Flores — a coach who does a great job of playing to his players’ strengths — let Shelley hang around as a boundary corner? In his excellent 2022 with the Vikings, Shelley was outside for 382 snaps and in the slot for just a pair.
The current depth chart puts Shelley among the fourth-string players. Maybe that’s simply a byproduct of getting onboarded relatively late in the process, but it’s also an indication that a roster spot isn’t assured. Offering sticky, physical coverage in the preseason would certainly go a long way toward Shelley sticking around as the CB5/6.
Player #2 — Akayleb Evans, CB
Cheating a bit on this one, folks. Evans isn’t on the roster bubble; his spot on the team looks to be rock-solid.
The thinking is simply that Mr. Evans would benefit from a boost in confidence. Play a bit and make some plays. Gain confidence and start working toward becoming a strong CB2/3 instead of someone who was benched down the stretch of the season. Last year, the 6’2″ corner allowed 70.4% of passes into his coverage to completed, seeing 57 receptions go for 780 yards and 6 touchdowns.
More recently, Evans has been putting in some solid work at camp. Craig Peters highlighted the corner in a recent piece for Vikings.com: “Akayleb Evans was able to disrupt a pass intended for Addison in the red zone, and he secured the football after a ricochet.” Replicating that ricochet is what everyone is looking to see for the 25-year-old defender.
Player #3 — Kamu Grugier-Hill, LB
Signed to a single-season deal sitting at a cap charge of $1,152,500, Kamu Grugier-Hill isn’t a lock to make the roster.
Currently, he’s listed as the LB3 in Minnesota, but one wonders if Brian Asamoah can overtake the veteran. Over these past three seasons, Grugier-Hill has been one of the worst linebackers in the sport, per PFF. His 2021 resulted in being listed as the 68th-best LB out of 86 contenders, his 2022 involved being 79th out of 81, and his 2023 involved being 78th out of 82.
So, not great. PFF, of course, isn’t gospel. On the contrary, it’s merely one tool for assessing someone’s play.
The Vikings will be watching to see how the veteran Grugier-Hill interacts with the defense more broadly. Being a brain on the field, someone to decode what’s transpiring before getting his teammates in the right spot, will be something Flores & Co. want to see. Being versatile, of course, will also be a helpful part of the evaluation process.
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.
