Matthew Coller: Should Vikings ride it out or add starting-caliber cornerback?

There are starters on the market — do they want to sign them or give more chances to the 2022 draft picks?

Jan 7, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14) catches a pass and shakes a tackle attempt by Minnesota Vikings cornerback Akayleb Evans (21) during first quarter at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports / David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports

EAGAN — The Minnesota Vikings’ cornerbacks must have been exhausted by the end of Saturday afternoon’s practice. In 90 degree heat, the first and second-team CBs Byron Murphy Jr., Akayleb Evans, Andrew Booth Jr., Duke Shelley, Jaylin Williams and Dwight McGlothern took rep after rep after rep.

The unit was stretched thin by the absence of Shaq Griffin, who head coach Kevin O’Connell said was dealing with a “soft tissue” injury and will be evaluated on a “day-to-day” basis.

It doesn’t sound serious but the cornerback unit can’t go on like this, especially after losing second-year DB Mekhi Blackmon to an ACL tear on Day 1.

O’Connell said that from a pure numbers standpoint the Vikings would need to add someone to the cornerback room. The questions is whether they should be looking for a proven veteran who recently started or if it’s better long term to bring in another camp-body/longshot type like they did with former Texan Cobi Francis and give the two 2022 draft picks Akayleb Evans and Andrew Booth Jr. every opportunity to prove themselves during camp and the regular season.

“I’m looking for those guys to just continuously show some improvement and comfort,” O’Connell said. “Use some of the experience that those guys have got in some big-time moments over the last couple of years and just have confidence to show up every day to focus on some things to get better.”

First, the argument for sticking with Evans and Booth Jr. behind Griffin and Murphy Jr.:

While neither player has proven themselves as being reliable yet, cornerback is a position where we see development required. Former Vikings first-round pick Trae Waynes, for example, didn’t come into his own until his third season. Derek Stingley Jr. of the Texans went from a 49.1 PFF grade as a rookie to a top-notch 81.8 grade in his second year. Top picks Trent McDuffie, DaRon Bland and second-rounders Kyler Gordon and Roger McCreary all took big jumps as well.

Evans and Booth Jr. showed signs of improvement in 2023, albeit not at the same level. Through 15 weeks, Evans had an average 65.3 PFF grade (out of 100) but then struggled mightily in the final three weeks and ended up at a poor 54.9. Booth Jr. only saw 99 coverage snaps but allowed just four completions into his coverage.

On a team that needs to spend 2024 finding out how many pieces are going forward with them, it might make sense for the Vikings to keep Evans and Booth Jr. in positions where they can play alongside Murphy Jr. and Griffin and give the staff a definitive answer on whether they can be pieces for the future.

Even if the bus has already left the station for either 2022 pick to be the next Xavien Howard or Byron Jones in Flores’ system, cornerback rooms generally need to be deep in order to thrive and both Murphy Jr. and Griffin are free agents after this year. Barely playing the third-year CBs won’t help them answer the question of how many picks/free agents they need to add before next season.

The other part of the case for picking up a depth player on the cheap rather than spending for a veteran is that most veterans are on the market for a reason.

O’Connell said: “There could be some impact players out there that might be interested in joining our team.”

Are there really impact players out there?

Let’s look at the PFF rankings for free agent CBs who played at least 50% of their team’s snaps last year without showing their names (out of 80): 21st, 47th, 52nd, 54th, 70th, 77th.

The top ranked player is Stephon Gilmore, who has had a borderline Hall of Fame career but is set to turn 34 in September. Is he going to sign with the Vikings or wait until a top contender like the Chiefs or 49ers loses someone in their CB room? Otherwise it’s all below average graded players, many of whom were already on the downslope. Steven Nelson of the Houston Texans ranked 24th but he announced his retirement in June.

Because corners historically do not always age gracefully, it might make more sense to pick up someone younger with some NFL experience but was cut by their team like former Cardinal Kyler McMichael or ex-Colt Isaac Taylor-Stuart.

Now the reasoning for adding another veteran.

The Vikings aren’t playing the 2024 season for developmental reasons. They didn’t spend many, many millions on Jonathan Greenard, Blake Cashman, Andrew Van Ginkel and Aaron Jones in free agency to play a 17-week preseason from September to January. They want to make the playoffs.

If Gilmore did agree to play for the Vikings they could offer him a reasonable snap count mixing with Murphy Jr. and Griffin rather than the 999 snaps he played for Dallas last season. He gave up just an 83.3 rating into his coverage and ranked 10th in man coverage per PFF. Maybe he’s just an outlier age wise like Terence Newman was years ago under Mike Zimmer.

If things go well with Flores’ defense, the Vikings could get Gilmore back in the playoffs. If they struggle out of the gate, they could trade him to a contending team.

Some of the others who had middling 2023 grades have histories of being pretty good. Ahkello Witherspoon gave up just a 76.7 QB rating into his coverage and has multiple seasons with grades above 75 in the past. He’s 29 years old.

Interestingly, Patrick Peterson had terrible numbers in man coverage (128.3 rating allowed) but great numbers in zone (23.6 rating allowed). It’s unclear whether he wants to keep playing and his tackling might not fit what Flores is looking for.

Former Bronco Fabian Moreau also played well (60.3 rating allowed) as a zone corner. And Adoree Jackson’s 2021 and 2022 seasons were graded over 72 before a disaster (48.6 grade) 2023 in which he graded as the second worst man corner in the league.

While Gilmore might be the only one capable of pushing the defense’s needle in the right direction overall, the others could provide valuable depth. Over 17 games the Vikings played six different corners in 2023. Whoever they sign would be pretty likely to get in the game.

The Vikings could choose a more patient route. They could sign someone to fill out the roster now and then wait until another corner gets cut around the league as Bradley Roby did last year (and eventually signed with the Eagles).

That carries the risk that they might not be able to land whichever veteran loses a gig and that player would need to learn on the fly rather than having weeks to catch up before the season. There would also be time for Evans and Booth Jr. to compete with the veteran player during camp/preseason for their spot on the depth chart.

Bottom line: The Vikings could not have anticipated what happened to their depth at cornerback and now have to scramble just a few days into camp in order to hold together a vital part of their roster. If they choose not to sign (or trade for) a veteran soon, then we could assume either those players weren’t fits, weren’t still playable or that they preferred to give Evans and Booth Jr. an opportunity to emerge. If they do sign someone at any time of significant dollar amount, it would point toward their desire to return to the playoffs even while the young roster is still in transition.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

— Jalen Nailor had another strong practice, highlighted by a eye-popping grab in the back of the end zone during red zone drills.

— JJ McCarthy had great results with his red zone work, completing a touchdown pass on every play except one drop that was accurate enough to be caught. He took a ton of reps, all still with the second team. One pass was intercepted but overall his confidence seemed to remain high when operating the offense.

— The defense did a lot of mixing and matching at edge rusher, including Andrew Van Ginkel getting some 11-on-11 work, Jonathan Greenard, Dallas Turner, Pat Jones, Jihad Ward and Andre Carter II all shuffling in and out with the first team D-line and secondary.

— Will Reichard went 5-for-5 making kicks between 33 and 48 yards. He put on a show with the distance and arc of the longer kicks.