Young Viking “Keeps Flashing,” Is “Always Around the Ball”
There’s no such thing as a player who makes the final roster in May and June. There are, however, plenty of players who lose their spot in May and June.
Zemaiah Vaughn is not among them.
The young Viking has been impressive, earning praise for his efforts in OTAs and minicamp. Consider a recent update from The Athletic’s Alec Lewis: “Not going to make too much out of OTAs/minicamp, but one guy who keeps flashing to me is Utah undrafted corner Zemaiah Vaughn. Just always around the ball, never seems out of place.”
Young Viking Zemaiah Vaughn and The Vikings’ CB Battle
Go ahead and fully lean into a pessimistic evaluation of the Vikings’ corners.
The top option — Mr. Byron Murphy Jr. — is coming off a strong season, but it was a contract year. Any sense that he’ll take a step back? Keep in mind, as well, that he battled injury in both of 2022 and 2023. Behind Murphy is someone who has never been a full-time starter (Isaiah Rodgers) alongside someone who missed all of his sophomore season due to injury (Mekhi Blackmon).
The Vikings are then leaning on a draft bust (Jeff Okudah), a sophomore was was an undrafted free agent who barely played last season (Dwight McGlothern), and then a hodgepodge of veterans (Ambry Thomas, Tavierre Thomas, etc.).
Can that same spirit of skepticism get applied to Zemaiah Vaughn, someone who has been leaving behind a trail of clues that he may be the real deal?
Would be tough, folks.
Standing at 6’3″, Mr. Vaughn has the notable distinction of being the Vikings’ tallest corner. No, that reality alone isn’t enough to hand him a roster spot, but it’s nevertheless a factor that’s working in his favor. Look again at those top corner options — Murphy, Rodgers, & Blackmon. None of them have great size. Okudah does, but he remains an unknown going into 2025. Potential, yes, but no certainty.
Football, a matchup sport par excellence, becomes difficult without the talent necessary to neutralize who the other team is putting onto the field. More specifically, it can be tough to slow down the NFL’s bully receivers without having large corners who are up to the task of mixing it up with the league’s long-and-strong pass catchers.
Of course, looking to Zemaiah Vaughn to go toe-to-toe with Mike Evans, D.K. Metcalf, and/or A.J. Brown in his debut season would be setting up the kid to fail. The hope is simply that he could — could — develop into becoming that kind of corner, someone who can slow down these imposing receivers.
As a rookie, the hope is that Vaughn simply gets onto the roster. If he does and proves to be a strong option on specials, the UDFA signing will have been a success. The Ivan Pace stories — UDFA adds who start and shine immediately — are few and far between. Depth on defense and excellence on special teams is what the Utah alumnus is shooting for in 2025.
Last year, Mr. Vaughn got involved in a dozen games for Utah. He picked up 40 tackles alongside 2 sacks and 5 tackles for loss. Add in that he had an interception that got brought back for a touchdown alongside 5 passes defended and a forced fumble.
Getting Zemaiah Vaughn to Minnesota involved handing over $249,000 in guaranteed money, a hearty commitment for an UDFA pickup. He’s far from a lock to earn a 53-man roster spot but he should be in the mix as July and August unfold.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, Sports Reference CFB, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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