Breaking Down the Vikings Cornerback Depth Chart

One of the areas many pundits expected the Vikings to address during the draft was cornerback. Indeed, many of them dinged the Vikings in their draft grade for failing to address this perceived position of need.

However, the Vikings may be more comfortable with their cornerback room in their own assessment. Indeed, Kevin O’Connell’s comments about the cornerback position were pretty clear at the owner’s meeting back in early April:

“Our roster is pretty full at that position right now so it’s going to be competitive throughout the spring especially if we’re able to do anything in the draft.”

The Vikings did not address the cornerback position in the draft, but did add a couple of UDFAs after the draft was over. Given what the Vikings did in free agency, and their existing roster at cornerback, this wasn’t all that surprising.

The Vikings extended starting outside cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. on a three-year deal, then signed another starting outside cornerback in Isaiah Rodgers on a two-year deal. There should be no doubt that Rodgers will be the other starting cornerback opposite Murphy, as Rodgers was someone defensive coordinator Brian Flores targeted early in the off-season according to Kevin O’Connell:

“Isaiah was a guy that Flo identified pretty early. Historically, when Flo has that tone in his voice about guys, he has been pretty darn accurate. That guy, whether playing for us or somebody else, has immediately shown up. No pressure on Isaiah but he definitely got that evaluation from Flo.”

Flores echoed that this week when he said he was interested in Rodgers when he was at UMass and said he was all in when he learned that the Vikings had a chance to acquire him in free agency.

Nevertheless, when Jalen Ramsey became available in trade and now Jaire Alexander has been released by the Packers, speculation about the Vikings’ interest in either cornerback has ramped up, noting that the cornerback room appears to be the weak link on the team.

Having two starters, both 27, on two-year deals means there was no urgency for the Vikings in using their top draft pick on a cornerback, especially when left guard was a greater position of need and Donovan Jackson was arguably the best player available at #24 when the Vikings picked him.

The Vikings also have two outside cornerbacks in Mekhi Blackmon and Dwight McGlothern who were both arguably mid-round talents- although McGlothern went undrafted- that are likely to be backups that may earn some rotational reps over the course of the season. Blackmon was named to the PFF All-Rookie team in 2023 before his ACL injury last year, while McGlothern was one of the best corners in the SEC his senior year according to PFF and did well with a handful of reps last season as he developed. My breakdown of Mekhi Blackmon is here and McGlothern’s is here. So, with Blackmon and McGlothern on the roster, drafting another mid-round cornerback would be redundant.

The Vikings also added Jeff Okudah in free agency, the #3 overall pick in the 2020 draft who never panned out for the Lions and wasn’t retained by the Falcons or Texans after playing with each team for a season. The reason is that he’s been inconsistent at best in coverage as an outside cornerback, despite some ability in press coverage. Kevin O’Connell said the Vikings see him as, “a boundary corner in nickel defense and let him get physical and get his hands on people” at the league meetings in early April. Okudah himself echoed that assessment in an interview last week. That suggests a rotational press-man corner, which would be Okudah’s best use- along with special teams. He is a liability in any sort of off or zone coverage, however.

Let’s take a closer look at each cornerback on the Vikings’ roster.

Byron Murphy Jr.

Murphy had easily the best season of his pro career last year. His PFF coverage grade (73.5) and passer rating when targeted (79.3) were both season bests and top 16 among starting cornerbacks. He also had a respectable run defense grade (67.1) although his tackling grade of 43.2 leaves more to be desired. Murphy also had the more difficult task of moving inside to play slot corner, a role he shared with Josh Metellus as the third safety last year.

Murphy was an asset for the Vikings’ defense in coverage, but he was hardly a shutdown corner. He was tied for the most targeted cornerback in the league with 110, and allowed the third-most receptions with 77. Still, most of those were of the pedestrian variety as his average yards per reception (10.1) was 15th lowest among starting corners. And, if you consider Murphy had 17 stops (wins for the defense) tackling in coverage, 50 of his 110 targets were defensive wins, or roughly 45%. Again, not bad but not shutdown either.

Overall, Murphy allowed opponents to move the chains on him in coverage on occasion, but didn’t allow many big plays either. Murphy also had a higher degree of difficulty than strictly outside cornerbacks given roughly a third of his coverage snaps were playing slot corner. 55% of Murphy’s targets and receptions allowed were while playing in the slot.

Murphy was roughly equally adept at man and zone coverage last season, although he was targeted at over twice the rate of zone in man coverage.

Bottom line on Murphy is that he’s a good outside corner, if a little on the small side. I suspect if he only played outside corner, his stats would be among the top ten cornerbacks in the league. In any case, Murphy is a reliable corner that doesn’t make many big mistakes. Murphy is also 27 and unlikely to improve much from here. The Vikings signed him to effectively a two-year extension plus an option year, but cornerbacks typically hit their back nine at age 28. It would be nice if the Vikings had a better option at slot corner, but at this point there are only unproven options.

Isaiah Rodgers

Rodgers was a backup in Philadelphia last season, but he also had some impressive coverage stats and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up as the best starting cornerback for the Vikings this season.

Rodgers is listed as 5’10”, 176 pounds with 4.28” speed, 40” vertical jump and 32 7/8” arms. Those last three are all high-end measurables that matter for cornerbacks. He was also the fourth highest graded cornerback in man coverage last season (83.3) among CBs with at least 200 coverage snaps. Rodgers allowed just five receptions on twelve targets in 77 man coverage snaps last season. He wasn’t quite as good in zone coverage, but still allowed just 9 receptions on 17 targets in 139 zone coverage snaps last season. Rodgers was also an excellent run defender despite his size, with an 83.4 grade last season.

Rodgers hasn’t had a full season as a starter- he typically played about 50% of defensive snaps in a season, and missed the 2023 season due to a gambling suspension. But when he’s played, he’s generally played well. Signing Rodgers might be something similar to signing Jonathan Greenard, who also was a backup who played well prior to signing with the Vikings and becoming a starter.

So, signing a career backup in Rodgers may be something of an under-the-radar addition that turns out to be more significant once the season starts. I suspect the Vikings view it that way and I expect Rodgers to be a starting outside cornerback- replacing Stephon Gilmore last season.

Mekhi Blackmon

Blackmon seems to be a forgotten man on the Vikings’ CB depth chart, at least by national media. But he made the PFF All-Rookie team in 2023 before suffering an ACL last year. He was also the highest graded starting corner for the Vikings in both man and zone coverage as a rookie in 2023.

We’ll have to see how he rebounds from the ACL, but it is easy to see Blackmon as a backup for Murphy without much loss in performance and who can play outside when Murphy shifts inside to play the slot.

Jeff Okudah

Okudah is the former #3 pick in the 2020 draft that didn’t pan out. The Lions let him go after three years. Then he had one-year stints with the Falcons (where he played a fair amount) and with the Texans (where he didn’t) before signing another one-year deal with the Vikings for $2.35 million (all guaranteed) this season.

The reason Okudah hasn’t panned out for any team that’s signed him is that overall, he’s not good in coverage. Part of the reason is that he has 4.48” timed speed which looks fast compared to his play speed. His 10- and 20-yard splits are poor and that looks more like his play speed much of the time. He’s not a quick twitch athlete or particularly instinctive either.

What Okudah does have is great size, arm length, and burst. That has allowed him to be effective (rather than good) in press man coverage and a good run defender. I say effective in press man coverage because he doesn’t give up much production in press man despite being inconsistent with it.

In making that assessment, I looked at 115 snaps of Okudah in press man coverage over the 2023 season with the Falcons. Over those 115 snaps, Okudah was targeted a total of 15 times, allowing 5 receptions for a total of 108 yards with no TDs or INTs and 2 PBUs. That translates into a 59.9 passer rating when targeted and a snaps per reception allowed of 23. The former would’ve ranked third-best last season, and the latter would have led the league among cornerbacks last season by a significant margin. He didn’t have any penalties that I noticed either.

Now that doesn’t mean Okudah had perfect coverage on every press-man snap in 2023- he didn’t- or that he could’ve been targeted more often with success- he could have. But he was effective in that most of the time he had good enough coverage early in the snap so his man was not targeted. He also had decent grades as a run defender (68.8) and tackler (66.9) with the Falcons in 2023.

It’s also worth noting that Okudah did not play as much or as well with the Texans last season, even in press man coverage, but he did play significant snaps on special teams for the first time and did a decent job doing so. That special teams role could help him make the roster.

The bottom line with Okudah is that the Vikings aren’t going to reclaim him as a #3 overall pick and make him into a shutdown, all-purpose cornerback. But if they use him situationally and exclusively as a press-man corner, he could prove to be effective in that role if he still has the drive and love for football after a disappointing five years in the league.

Below is Okudah (#1) in press coverage with Atlanta in 2023

Tavierre Thomas

Thomas, 29, had some good years at slot cornerback with the Texans and is also a core special teams ace (90.5 PFF grade on 403 special teams snap last season with Tampa Bay). That’s an excellent combination for making the Vikings’ roster, despite his getting up there in years as a cornerback.

The Vikings don’t have anybody other than Byron Murphy Jr. that’s had many snaps at slot corner, so adding Thomas makes sense for that reason along with his special teams ability and experience.

Dwight McGlothern

McGlothern had just 20 snaps in mop-up time last season as a rookie, so his 80.5 overall PFF grade and 82.3 coverage grade are hardly worth mentioning. But he proved he can be a top zone-based outside cornerback against top competition in his last season in college at Arkansas, facing SEC competition. He’s nearly 6’2” but was pretty lanky 185 pounds as a rookie. He has added weight this off-season, however, which should help him hold up better in the league. His best traits are his instinctiveness and high football IQ which allow him to read route combinations and make quick breaks on the ball from zone coverage. He has adequate speed (4.47” 40-time) and great ball skills.

It’ll be interesting to see how McGlothern does in preseason games this season- I imagine he’ll get significant reps- and if he’s able to show up in training camp as well. He has the potential to develop into a Richard Sherman-type outside corner (i.e. not a good enough athlete for man coverage, but smart and instinctive disrupter in zone). I don’t expect him to compete for a starting job this year, but if he continues to make the most of his opportunities he could earn around 100 snaps this season in light rotation.

Ambry Thomas

Zemaiah Vaughn

Keenan Garber

Barring an extraordinary off-season/training camp/pre-season, it’s tough to see any of the three corners above making the Vikings’ roster. Vaughn is a similar type of corner as McGlothern, but probably has an uphill battle to displace him on the depth chart. Garber is a better athlete than he is a corner, while Thomas is more of a physical, press-man corner like Okudah.

Vaughn and Garber are 2025 UDFAs, while Thomas was a former 3rd round pick by the 49ers in the 2021 draft. He’s 25. He had significant snaps in the 2023 season with the 49ers (573 total snaps, 419 in coverage) with okay grades overall and in coverage of 61.5.

Bottom Line

The Vikings have three quality starters in Byron Murphy Jr., Isaiah Rodgers, and Mekhi Blackmon when you look at their on-field performance. None are likely to be shut-down corners, but they don’t have to be for the Vikings’ defense to be effective and even improve over the 2024 campaign. It’s easy to say Murphy is good-not-great, Rodgers has only been a backup and Blackmon didn’t play last season and conclude the Vikings need to add a more proven starter (like Ramsey or Alexander). But even though the Vikings’ three starters (in nickel) are more under-the-radar players, they have shown they can all be quality starters.

And with the Vikings making some key acquisitions on the interior defensive line to go with their already stout edge rusher group, the cornerback room’s job could become just a little easier this season. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Isaiah Rodgers turns out to be the best free agent acquisition this year for the Vikings, even though it didn’t make a big splash in free agency.

Poll

Should the Vikings trade for Jalen Ramsey or spend upwards of $10 million for Jaire Alexander?

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  No- money better spent on other players

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