Advertisement

Resetting Vikings’ depth chart at cornerback after 2022 NFL draft

Jordy McElroy
·3 min read
5

The Minnesota Vikings doubled down on their efforts to boost the defensive backfield by kicking off the last two days of the 2022 NFL draft with selections at cornerback.

Granted, the team made some noteworthy moves in free agency, including re-signing Patrick Peterson and agreeing to a deal with slot corner Chandon Sullivan. But those two moves alone were never going to be good enough to stop opposing quarterbacks from torching the backend of their defense.

The ability to formulate some sort of resistance in the secondary is the key to unlocking the entire defense for the Vikings in 2022. If defensive backs can consistently hold up in coverage, it’ll give more time for Ed Donatell’s pass-rushing hounds to unleash pain and misery on opposing offenses up front.

The injection of youth wasn’t just needed at safety, where the team now has Harrison Smith, Lewis Cine and Camryn Bynum surveying the backfield. It was much-needed at cornerback as well.

Who got drafted?

  • Andrew Booth Jr.

  • Akayleb Evans

Vikings fans were likely chewing their nails down to the finger when the team traded down from No. 34 in the second-round of the draft. So many of the other talented cornerbacks had already been taken off the board—Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, Derek Stingley Jr., Kaiir Elam and Trent McDuffie.

It looked like the team was going to blow their shot at Andrew Booth Jr. as well, until Adofo-Mensah wheeled-and-dealed his way back to No. 42 to take the strong and physical cornerback out of Clemson.

But he didn’t just stop with Booth.

The first-year general manager made sure to double down at the position by taking Akayleb Evans out of Missouri with the No. 118 pick of the fourth round to fortify the defensive backfield.

“I have certain things you can’t teach—length, speed for my length and the ability to move at my size,” Evans recently said in an interview with Vikings.com’s Tatum Everett.

In one draft, the Vikings came away with two young and talented prospects with the potential to help them for years to come.

Projections at the position

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The Vikings had to do something at cornerback.

It’s hard to win games when the secondary is giving up the fifth-most passing yards per game on average. Things devolved to the point where they were giving up 13.2 passing first downs on average, which was the fourth-most in the league last season.

Teams were just throwing against them like crazy because it was such an obvious weakness.

But that could finally change with Booth and Evans joining the mix with Patrick Peterson and Cameron Dantzler. Booth has the potential to start right away across from Peterson, while Evans is more of a longer project.

One name that isn’t being mentioned enough is former Green Bay Packers cornerback Chandon Sullivan, who should do wonders for the Vikings in the slot. With the addition of rookie first-round pick Lewis Cine at safety, along with all of the other moves that have been made at cornerback, things are looking promising for Minnesota’s secondary.

Depth chart resetting

Billy Hardiman-USA TODAY Sports

1

1