Vikings’ Injury-Prone DB Dubbed Candidate to Start After Changing Game

Getty Cornerback Akayleb Evans of the Minnesota Vikings.

The Minnesota Vikings have been trying to fix their secondary for the better part of two years, but injuries keep getting in the way.

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in 2022 used the first two draft picks of his career as a general manager to draft safety Lewis Cine and cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. He used the team’s second and third overall picks in 2023 to select CB Mekhi Blackmon (third round) and S Jay Ward (fourth round). Minnesota also added cover corner Byron Murphy on a two-year, $17.5 million deal this offseason as a replacement for the departed Patrick Peterson.

However, it is Akayleb Evans — a fourth-round selection entering his second NFL campaign in 2023 — who may hold the key to unlocking a Vikings secondary that was the league’s second least successful last season. But if he wants to do that, Evans has to stay on the field.

“As a rookie last season, Evans landed in concussion protocol three times,” Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune wrote on Saturday, August 5. “If he can stay healthy, there’s a starting spot available in the secondary.”

Vikings Coach Attempting to Re-Teach Akayleb Evans How to Tackle

GettyCornerback Akayleb Evans of the Minnesota Vikings tackles running back Zonovan Knight of the New York Jets during an NFL game in December 2022.

Vikings defensive pass game coordinator Daronte Jones has spent the offseason with Evans attempting to address the cornerback’s biggest problem — his tackling form.

“He was just a victim of old-school teaching: head across the bow. You know, we all were taught that,” Jones told Goessling. “Under stressful situations, sometimes you kind of do what you’re used to doing. He got put in some bad situations on the field of play.”

Evans appeared in 10 games for the Vikings as a rookie, earning two starts. He amassed 23 tackles, two pass breakups and a forced fumble over that span, per Pro Football Reference.

Akayleb Evans Has Displayed Abilities Required to Succeed in Vikings’ New Aggressive Style of Defense

Courtesy of VikingsMinnesota Vikings cornerback Akayleb Evans runs drills during rookie minicamp in May 2022.

Minnesota’s secondary is as wide open as just about any in the NFL with approximately one month remaining in the preseason.

Murphy is a lock to start at one cornerback spot assuming he’s healthy. However, gone are 2022 starters/contributors Peterson, Cameron Dantzler Sr. and Duke Shelley. Booth is back after his rookie campaign was cut short by a knee injury that required season-ending surgery. However, his problematic health history is extensive and stretches back to his college days at Clemson. It culminated last week with Booth leaving Vikings practice early on Tuesday due to an undisclosed injury concern.

Of every cornerback currently on Minnesota’s roster, only Murphy played enough snaps in 2022 to earn a ranking from Pro Football Focus (PFF) via his overall player grade, which slotted Murphy at 46th out of 118 qualifying cornerbacks. Evans’ PFF player grade was poor at 47.2, though it was nearly a full two points higher than Booth’s during their respective rookie campaigns.

Goessling noted further that Evans has already displayed some of the qualities required to succeed in new defensive coordinator Brian Flores‘ aggressive scheme, which means the starting position could be Evans’ to lose if he remains healthy and continues to progress on his current trajectory.

“Through two weeks of work in training camp, primarily with the Vikings’ starting defense, Evans has shown some of the traits required to play man coverage for Flores: the speed to stick with receivers downfield, the length to break up a Kirk Cousins‘ pass in the corner of the end zone during a goal-line drill,” Goessling wrote. “The 6-2 cornerback’s athletic ability pushed him into the fourth round of the 2022 draft, where Minnesota took him 118th overall, and he has paired it with some of the reliability the Vikings badly need.”