Matthew Coller: Blackmon's ACL tear has trickle-down effect on CB room

They will have no other choice than to add another cornerback just days after Duke Shelley was brought back into the mix.

Mehki Blackmon (5) covering Justin Jefferson (18) during an offseason practice. / Image courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

EAGAN — After some very difficult days leading up to the beginning of training camp with the death of cornerback Khyree Jackson and Jordan Addison being cited on suspicion of DUI, the Minnesota Vikings desperately wanted to get back on the field and begin work on the 2024 season. But they took another hit on Day 1 when cornerback Mekhi Blackmon went down with an injury that turned out to be a torn ACL.

Not only will a promising young player miss the year after just one practice, the Vikings are left very much shorthanded in the cornerback room. The depth chart minus Blackmon features veterans Shaq Griffin and Byron Murphy Jr. followed by third-year CBs Akayleb Evans and Andrew Booth Jr., journeymen Duke Shelley and AJ Green III and UDFA Dwight McGlothern.

Blackmon appeared to be en route to a bigger role than he had as a rookie when he played 434 snaps and put together strong grades from PFF as the third highest rated rookie with at least 300 snaps. Now he will have to wait until 2025 to pick up on that strong start to his career.

The flexibility of the CB room is also significantly decreased with Blackmon’s injury. He played almost exclusively outside corner last year, meaning that more playing time for him might have meant more snaps at nickel for Murphy Jr. if the former USC corner remained healthy. Murphy Jr. had a strong history with the Cardinals as a slot corner but only played 214 snaps inside in 2023.

With Blackmon down defensive coordinator Brian Flores would need to turn to Akayleb Evans or Andrew Booth Jr. if he wants to move around Murphy Jr.

Last season Evans had ups and downs as a starter, finishing 71st of 80 starting corners in PFF grade, and Booth Jr. rarely saw the field (151 total snaps).

The Vikings defense was already planning on relying on safety Josh Metellus to remain in his versatile role but more depth was going to mean more options. Without Blackmon the options are limited. They will have no other choice than to add another cornerback just days after Shelley was brought back into the mix. Would they go after a veteran on the older side like ex-Giant Adoree Jackson or former defensive MVP Stephon Gilmore? Maybe even a phone call to Patrick Peterson?

Needing to another free agent was not the place the Vikings wanted to be heading into the second day of camp.

Sam Darnold’s arm talent shines

If you walked out on the practice field for the first day of training camp at TCO Performance Center wondering why Sam Darnold makes believers out of coaches and teammates despite his struggles in the past to standout as a starting quarterback, you walked off the field with the answer: Freakish arm talent.

Midway through the 11-on-11 period, Darnold unleashed a rocket to Justin Jefferson that dropped right into the superstar receiver’s hands without him needing to break stride. Darnold made the pass look effortless.

"He definitely has a strong arm, just seeing the deep throws that he threw today with touch and good spiral, I definitely like that,” Jefferson said after practice. “Once you see something in practice and someone shows you something in practice then you expect it. Him throwing these deep balls and precise passes, we're going to expect that going forward."

Darnold appeared to take all of the first-team reps and operated an overall smooth practice. There were a few incompletions here and there and one 7-on-7 throw that was nearly intercepted but he looked very comfortable going through reads executing rollouts. Certainly the intensity will ramp up more as camp goes on and the pads come on.

“I think he's always had the skill set,” O’Connell said before practice. “When you really turn on the tape, he's shown that skill set matches with playing the quarterback position at the NFL level consistently. That's going to be the name of the game. How comfortable can he get within our offense? What kind of similarities to some other systems where he's had some success can he find in our system? Also, the leadership piece of that quarterback walking in the huddle and making sure that everybody's on the same page and dialed in ready to go execute, are all things Sam's thinking about.”

As for JJ McCarthy, he had a highlight throw as well, ripping a fastball into the middle of the field and finding Lucky Jackson in tight coverage. There were some hits and misses otherwise but he did not seem out of place.

Jordan Addison speaks following DUI

Addison did not hide away from the media on the opening day of camp. After practice he addressed his recent citation for suspicion of DUI after falling asleep in his Rolls-Royce, according to a police report.

The second-year receiver began by explaining that he could not go into details about the incident for legal reasons but acknowledged that he was in a “dark place” right after it happened. He noted that he apologized to teammates and said O’Connell was “supportive” and “disappointed.”

“Whatever comes with it, I own up to everything and I feel like anything that comes my way is deserved,” he said.

In practice there was nothing that would indicate punishment. He took first-team reps as expected.

Additional notes

— O’Connell said that LB Andrew Van Ginkel will ramp up slowly over the first few days after he missed OTAs and minicamp recovering from a foot injury. He took some reps in 7-on-7s but not 11-on-11s.

— RB DeWayne McBride was briefly placed on the Non-Football Injury list when he arrived at camp. He was declared good to roll on Wednesday and practiced fully.

— LG Blake Brandel was the first-team left guard for the entirety of practice

— Brandon Powell and Jalen Nailor worked in with the first team as WR3. They appear to be the most likely players for the WR3/WR4 spots. O’Connell gave his view on the battle for jobs behind Jefferson and Addison:

“A lot of names in that room, a lot of guys really looking forward to seeing additions to those guys,” O’Connell said. “Jalen Nailor’s a guy, maybe the third receiver can look a lot of different ways in our offense because we have moved Justin [Jefferson] and now Jordan [Addison] quite around in our offense, so you really must be versatile. It's not just saying that guy's a slot receiver or an outside receiver, it's really looking for a versatile kind of all down skill set that might come from a collection of guys, it might come from one guy taking that job and running with it, so going to be very competitive.”

— The base defense defensive line was Jonathan Bullard, Harrison Phillips and Jerry Tillery

— Johnny Mundt and Josh Oliver were TE1 and TE2