Matthew Coller: Analyzing the state of the Vikings' cornerback room

Kevin O'Connell talked about a 'fluid' situation at corner on Friday.

Byron Murphy Jr. and Akayleb Evans / Minnesota Vikings

EAGAN — Per PFF, last season Minnesota Vikings cornerbacks were targeted 212 times. They allowed 140 receptions (67% completion percentage) for 1,715 yards (8.1 YPA), 12 touchdowns and five interceptions and a 99.9 QB rating. That level of cornerback play only helped lead them to the 20th best pass defense in Expected Points Added in 2023. The Vikings also gave up the highest completion percentage in the NFL and seventh highest QB rating against.

In order to take a step forward defensively, they will need better numbers from the corners in 2024. But while there have been improvements in other areas like creating a deeper edge rushing unit and set of interior players and adding a more flexible linebacker in Blake Cashman, the cornerback room remains a major question.

Following Mekhi Blackmon’s ACL tear, the Vikings lost Shaq Griffin to a short-term injury that has kept him out since Day 2 of camp. In response they added safety/nickel Bobby McCain, moved Jay Ward to outside corner and signed veteran corner Fabian Moreau, who played with the Denver Broncos last season. At practice Wednesday and Friday, the former Commander, Falcon, Giant and Bronco played a large number of the first-team reps.

That’s a lot of moving parts for late-July/early August.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell said that the CB room is improved from a numbers perspective but indicated that it’s still up in the air in terms of which players will land in certain roles.

“You'll see some different guys out there and different rotations with the twos,” O’Connell said. “It's a fluid thing. I think as always, we're constantly evaluating types of players that could be available to come in and provide a certain skill set or even just looking at what the final roster construction might look like where we may be able to improve in any area of our team with potential free agents that are still out there. But I do feel good about the room.”

The way things appeared in practice was with Moreau and Evans rotating with the first team and Murphy Jr. playing both an outside and inside role depending on the personnel package. O’Connell hinted at the owner’s meetings that he would like to see Murphy Jr. get more opportunities to play in the slot and thus far it appears they are sticking with that idea.

We have also seen a lot of UDFA Dwight McGlothern and Ward running with the second team. Right now it seems that Andrew Booth Jr., Duke Shelley, Jaylin Williams and AJ Green III are going to have to fight their way onto the 53.

How good can we expect the cornerback position to perform if the starters are Murphy Jr. and Griffin and Moreau, Evans and Ward act as depth?

If we look at past performance from the three experienced defenders we can get some semblance of the best and worst outcomes. Here are the best and worst seasons by PFF grade and QB rating (min. 500 snaps, rookie seasons not included):

PFF / PFF

The range of outcomes in both grade and QB rating allowed are wide for each corner. The difference between 66.7 and 58.0 is ranking in the top half versus the bottom third of the league.

It would be tough to predict a high ceiling but with talent all over the rest of the defense and Flores calling the shots, a median outcome might be good enough to produce an above average defense. One thing that might help them improve is increased schematic flexibility with more man coverage. Last year none of the three corners with more than 500 snaps for the Vikings played man coverage more than 25% of the time (per PFF).

However, the Vikings do not have a kind schedule of opposing receivers. They face highly-drafted rookie Malik Nabers in Week 1 and then Deebo Samuel/Brandon Aiyuk, Nico Collins/Stefon Diggs, a deep Packers unit, Garrett Wilson, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Cooper Kupp/Puka Nacua to open the season.

The other members of the CB room are much tougher to project. Evans was league average by PFF through 15 weeks and then cratered in the final three weeks. Ward was a highly versatile player in college but has 35 snaps. McGlothern is a big, aggressive CB but it’s hard to see an Ivan Pace Jr. situation happening again with a UDFA jumping up into a big role. Shelley was excellent in 2022 in a different scheme. Bobby McCain can play nickel if called upon but they are starting him out at safety.

There are a lot of moving parts still to the cornerback position. How the depth chart looks by the end of camp will give us a better indication of how things will look in the regular season and whether they could handle any more injuries. For now it seems they will need the best version of their veterans in order to improve the passing defense from last season.