What Should Vikings Fans Expect from Shaquill Griffin?
Brevan Bane
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The Minnesota Vikings added to the cornerback room a bit after the busy period of free agency.
Minnesota provided 28-year-old cornerback Shaquill Griffin a one-year deal worth a maximum of $6 million, reported by Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz on March 19th.
Griffin began his career in Seattle, where he was drafted in 2017 with the 90th overall pick. He would be in the Pacific Northwest until he departed for sunnier days in Jacksonville during free agency as he committed to a lucrative three-year/$40 million dollar deal with the Jaguars.
His time there would be short as his second season with them would end in injury, and he would ultimately be released and picked up by the Texans in free agency of 2023, who would then place him on waivers, to which Carolina obliged them.
Carolina decided not to commit any further resources to Griffin, setting him up to test free agency for the third time in as many years. The Vikings decided he would be a good body to have in the corner room. Surely, this was a move that not only general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah wanted to make, but defensive coordinator Brian Flores as well.
Expectations for CB Shaquill Griffin
So what can we expect from this “journeyman” corner? Thankfully, we have Pro Football Focus to paint us a decent picture.
Shaquill Griffin in 2023 among cornerbacks that played at least 250 snaps, per PFF:
- 67.0 Overall Defense Grade (55th)
- 61.9 Run Defense Grade (71st)
- 69.8 Tackling Grade (32nd)
- 67.0 Coverage Grade (54th)
Also according to PFF, opposing QBs completed 63.8% of passes attempted to a receiver with Griffin in coverage, as well as an 82.5 passer rating, which was the second-best mark of his career. Griffin would only allow one touchdown on 47 targets, as well as one interception and 4 pass breakups.
The 30 receptions he allowed on 290 pass coverage snaps led to a cumulative 327 total passing yards surrendered, an average of 10.9 yards per reception. That average was the best single-season performance of his career.
We certainly shouldn’t expect Griffin to be a slot corner, as he played only three snaps at the position in 2023. He most likely will be exclusively a wide corner, which depending on how he performs in camp, could line him up opposite of Mekhi Blackmon on many downs. Blackmon also played almost exclusively out wide, notching 382 reps at wide corner compared to his 18 reps at slot corner. This would also theoretically allow Byron Murphy Jr. to return to his natural habitat of slot corner.
The Vikings are in obvious need of cornerbacks, even though they roster a solid veteran in Murphy and a promising second-year player in Blackmon. It is even understandable to hold out hope for Akayleb Evans, who has shown flashes over his first two years in the NFL. However, he has also faced a couple of injuries as well as inconsistencies on the field in coverage.
A free agent signing is completely understandable to attempt to beef up the secondary a bit, especially given that Minnesota does not possess any second-round or third-round picks in this year’s NFL Draft.
The only somewhat ominous cloud over this transaction is whether or not the signing of Griffin was worth potentially sacrificing one of their compensatory third-round selections in 2025. Such a selection would have provided some insurance for the future after Minnesota’s seemingly imminent trade-up for a QB this Thursday night in Detroit.
While no one may be expecting to get an absolute lockdown-type corner out of Griffin, he could be a very valuable piece to a defense lacking depth in the corner room. He has shown high-upside earlier in his career, and is in the perfect spot to showcase his talent under Brian Flores, who has a knack for squeezing every last bit out of production out of his defensive personnel.
At the absolute worst, assuming he stays healthy, Griffin provides valuable high-end depth and mentorship to a relatively young cornerback room that will also most likely add another corner or two in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus.
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