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Their preseason has yet to begin, but already the Minnesota Vikings are scrambling to fill gaps in talent and depth inside the cornerback room.
The tragic death of rookie Khyree Jackson in a car crash on July 6 and the subsequent ACL injury to second-year backup Mekhi Blackmon have left a secondary that finished 23rd in passing yards allowed last season searching for answers behind Bryon Murphy and Akayleb Evans — the two primary starters in 2023 — and free-agent addition Shaquill Griffin who is now dealing with a hamstring issue.
Some talent at the position remains available in free agency in players like Stephon Gilmore, but if the Vikings are interested in a less expensive and more short-term solution, they could look to someone already on their roster and a temporary change of position. Andrew Harbaugh of USA Today floated on Friday, August 2, the idea of starting safety Camryn Bynum, who played cornerback at the collegiate level, moving to the outside and into a cornerback job.
“Bynum was a middle-tier cornerback prospect in the 2021 draft class. The Vikings’ move to safety for him has proved to be a great one … but what about moving him back to cornerback, just for the season?” Harbaugh wrote. “The preseason is all about moving the chess pieces around and seeing what strategies work. Bynum making a move to cornerback is simple, it makes sense and it is the band-aid solution this team needs.”
Camryn Bynum Was Quality CB in College, Has Developed Into High-Level Safety for Vikings
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GettySafety Camryn Bynum of the Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota selected Bynum with the No. 125 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL draft. He is entering the final season of his four-year rookie deal in 2024, which pays him only $4.2 million total and carries a salary cap hit of just $3.3 million next season.
The Vikings have nearly $19.1 million in cap space as of Friday and could explore more expensive options to bolster the cornerback room. But the team has other needs, including depth at some pricier positions like edge rusher and wide receiver where it could benefit from a little spending.
It wasn’t so long ago that Bynum was prowling the secondary for the University of California and his quality advanced metrics, figured by Pro Football Focus (PFF), helped elevate the former cornerback to the NFL level and then, eventually, into a starting-caliber safety.
“His PFF coverage grades in college were favorable,” Harbaugh wrote of Bynum. “He earned an average grade of 75.2, with his highest grade coming in his sophomore year when he graded out at 82.4.”
Bynum was borderline-elite at safety last season, per PFF, finishing with an overall grade of 73.2, which ranked him 21st out of of 95 players who saw enough snaps to qualify at the position. His highest scores came as a run defender, though he was reasonable in coverage with 9 pass breakups and 2 INTs. Bynum also tallied 3 forced fumbles and started all 17 regular season games for the second consecutive year.
Vikings Have Only Inexperienced Options Behind Camryn Bynum at Safety
GettyDefensive back Camryn Bynum of the Minnesota Vikings.
Moving Bynum out of the safety spot is risky considering how good he has been there, as well as the fact that the Vikings would presumably have to turn to either Theo Jackson or Jay Ward to replace him.
Neither Jackson, a sixth-round pick in 2022, or Ward, a fourth-rounder in 2023, have started a game in their respective professional careers. The other option is Lewis Cine, a first-round selection in 2022, who has appeared in just 10 games over two years and enters the preseason on the roster bubble and fighting for his spot in Minnesota this summer.
But cornerback is generally a higher-paid position than safety for a reason — because it requires more pass-coverage skill in a pass-happy league full of dynamic wide receivers who can exploit weakness at CB to greater advantage than they can weakness at safety.
The Vikings reunited with cornerback Duke Shelley this offseason and brought in veteran defensive back Fabian Moreau to add depth, which may allow defensive coordinator Brian Flores to leave Bynum where he is and try to patch together the cornerback position group absent any top-line starters heading into the 2024 campaign.
That said, Minnesota is likely to at least explore more upgrades at cornerback before the season begins in September, and moving Bynum over from safety is a move worth a look.
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