Post by Purple Pain on Dec 5, 2021 7:16:32 GMT -6
12. Minnesota Vikings — Andrew Booth Jr., CB, Clemson*
With Patrick Peterson and Bashaud Breeland playing on one-year deals, the Vikings could be in the market for a starting cornerback. Booth has is a long athlete with controlled hip movement and the ability to find the football. His tape from this past weekend against South Carolina will get NFL teams excited.
I'm "Ok" on Booth, Jr for now, but I personally like Auburn's CB Roger McCreary if we're going the 6'0" sub-200lb route with a CB in Round 1. The tape Booth put up was vs. a "middling" South Carolina team, while McCreary was up against Alabama and shadowed 1st Rd WR prospect J Williams the whole game and limited him to just 2 rec and had 4 pass breakups. Booth will probably win at The Combine, but I'll take McCreary's tape all day. McCreary will also be at the Senior Bowl.
Follow-up piece from Arif Hasan:
On Tuesday, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler released his first mock draft of the season and picked Andrew Booth Jr., a cornerback from Clemson, for the Vikings at pick No. 12. That pick matches both tendency and need perfectly. The Vikings have all kinds of holes to fill, but either the draft lacks talent at those positions (like quarterback) or those positions have been historically targeted later in the draft (e.g., edge rusher).
The Vikings have rostered a number of defensive backs who have experience with Brent Venables’ system in Clemson. That includes current corners Bashaud Breeland and Mackensie Alexander as well as former Vikings safety Jayron Kearse. They’ve also briefly rostered third-round pick Cordrea Tankersley and undrafted free agent Mark Fields II.
Adding Booth to the list would follow that pattern, especially given his length and athleticism. He is one of the more athletic defenders on a famously athletic defense.
Booth’s on-ball production doesn’t always look like that, but it often does. His performance against South Carolina had several equally impressive moments, too. The Vikings relish upside and are comfortable taking chances on that kind of talent.
The fact that Booth has length to spare to go with his athleticism and mixed coverage background should make him particularly appealing to Mike Zimmer, especially when adding in his quick starting velocity on a typically stacked Clemson defense. He started four games as a true sophomore and impressed quickly, putting himself on a track to declare early after becoming a full-time starter this year.
The Vikings invest significantly in cornerbacks, having sunk three first-round picks into the position over the Zimmer era.
But with their three starting corners hitting free agency and a great deal of uncertainty surrounding their young backups, the Vikings need a more concrete answer at the position, even if they re-sign veteran Patrick Peterson. Even if they re-sign every corner, they would be wise to invest in a long-term solution because of Peterson’s age and should provide Breeland with competition given his struggles.
Still, the Vikings will need to restock at other positions as well, and there are good players at those key slots. The team continues to start Mason Cole over a healthy Garrett Bradbury at center and might be willing to draft a center to replace Bradbury while declining his fifth-year option. If so, they might hope that Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum falls, though his projection at eighth overall to the Giants in Brugler’s mock draft makes that seem unlikely at the moment. Still, at a position like center, anything is possible.
They might also want to replace outgoing linebacker Anthony Barr. It’s difficult to find a player that has the size, pass-rush upside and athleticism that 2014 Barr had, but they might be able to replicate a lot of what he does for the defense while upgrading at other skill sets. Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean is even less likely to fall than Linderbaum, so the Vikings might be interested in Utah’s Devin Lloyd. They could also attempt a true repeat of the Barr pick by once again converting an edge defender to linebacker. That might mean David Ojabo from Michigan.
It also wouldn’t be shocking if the Vikings bucked their draft history of only selecting edge rushers in the mid to late rounds to nab one in the first. They broke tradition when they finally drafted an interior offensive lineman in the first round with Bradbury and might want to be a bit more sure at the position opposite Danielle Hunter. That could still be Ojabo or San Diego State’s Cameron Thomas.
Because of the number of receivers in Brugler’s first round, the Vikings might be able to trade down with a receiver-needy team to pick up some value and could target someone like corner Ahmad Gardner from Cincinnati.
Should the Vikings select a corner in the draft, expect that player to have a more direct avenue to start than previous first-round picks. The Vikings are thin at the position and won’t necessarily have starting talent waiting in the wings. It could mean a rough year in Zimmer’s notoriously complex defense, but that wouldn’t be new at this point.
The Vikings have rostered a number of defensive backs who have experience with Brent Venables’ system in Clemson. That includes current corners Bashaud Breeland and Mackensie Alexander as well as former Vikings safety Jayron Kearse. They’ve also briefly rostered third-round pick Cordrea Tankersley and undrafted free agent Mark Fields II.
Adding Booth to the list would follow that pattern, especially given his length and athleticism. He is one of the more athletic defenders on a famously athletic defense.
Booth’s on-ball production doesn’t always look like that, but it often does. His performance against South Carolina had several equally impressive moments, too. The Vikings relish upside and are comfortable taking chances on that kind of talent.
The fact that Booth has length to spare to go with his athleticism and mixed coverage background should make him particularly appealing to Mike Zimmer, especially when adding in his quick starting velocity on a typically stacked Clemson defense. He started four games as a true sophomore and impressed quickly, putting himself on a track to declare early after becoming a full-time starter this year.
The Vikings invest significantly in cornerbacks, having sunk three first-round picks into the position over the Zimmer era.
But with their three starting corners hitting free agency and a great deal of uncertainty surrounding their young backups, the Vikings need a more concrete answer at the position, even if they re-sign veteran Patrick Peterson. Even if they re-sign every corner, they would be wise to invest in a long-term solution because of Peterson’s age and should provide Breeland with competition given his struggles.
Still, the Vikings will need to restock at other positions as well, and there are good players at those key slots. The team continues to start Mason Cole over a healthy Garrett Bradbury at center and might be willing to draft a center to replace Bradbury while declining his fifth-year option. If so, they might hope that Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum falls, though his projection at eighth overall to the Giants in Brugler’s mock draft makes that seem unlikely at the moment. Still, at a position like center, anything is possible.
They might also want to replace outgoing linebacker Anthony Barr. It’s difficult to find a player that has the size, pass-rush upside and athleticism that 2014 Barr had, but they might be able to replicate a lot of what he does for the defense while upgrading at other skill sets. Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean is even less likely to fall than Linderbaum, so the Vikings might be interested in Utah’s Devin Lloyd. They could also attempt a true repeat of the Barr pick by once again converting an edge defender to linebacker. That might mean David Ojabo from Michigan.
It also wouldn’t be shocking if the Vikings bucked their draft history of only selecting edge rushers in the mid to late rounds to nab one in the first. They broke tradition when they finally drafted an interior offensive lineman in the first round with Bradbury and might want to be a bit more sure at the position opposite Danielle Hunter. That could still be Ojabo or San Diego State’s Cameron Thomas.
Because of the number of receivers in Brugler’s first round, the Vikings might be able to trade down with a receiver-needy team to pick up some value and could target someone like corner Ahmad Gardner from Cincinnati.
Should the Vikings select a corner in the draft, expect that player to have a more direct avenue to start than previous first-round picks. The Vikings are thin at the position and won’t necessarily have starting talent waiting in the wings. It could mean a rough year in Zimmer’s notoriously complex defense, but that wouldn’t be new at this point.
theathletic.com/2987087/2021/11/30/vikings-mock-draft-analysis-with-questions-aplenty-at-corner-clemsons-andrew-booth-makes-a-lot-of-sense/
... and neither is this Chris guy.