A position battle many expected to heat up in training camp is cooling fast. Jeff Okudah is emerging as a surprise frontrunner at slot cornerback for the Vikings.
The Minnesota Vikings have spent the 2025 offseason building a championship-ready roster, and that’s led to few front-burner position battles with training camp now off and running.
The competition for Minnesota’s starting cornerback jobs alongside Bryon Murphy Jr. was expected to garner much of the headlines, but the top three have been surprisingly consistent through OTAs, minicamp and now the start of summer camp.
The Vikings enter their first fully-padded practices of the new year this week with Murphy and newcomers Isaiah Rodgers and Jeff Okudah as their first-team corners. Young up-and-coming corners like Mekhi Blackmon and Dwight McGlothern are almost exclusively working with the second unit.
Per Alec Lewis of The Athletic, Brian Flores and company have “telegraphed their plan at cornerback for months.”
Third-year corner Mekhi Blackmon has also mixed in, but Okudah has commanded most of the snaps. The No. 3 pick in the 2020 draft is with his fourth team in four seasons. An Achilles injury and other health issues have affected his trajectory, but he watched the Vikings defense from afar last year and was intrigued.
Okudah appears to have a firm grip on the Vikings’ starting slot corner role in nickel packages. That’s a bit surprising, as the former first-rounder played just 79 snaps and never started a game for the Houston Texans last season. Okudah started games for the Atlanta Falcons in 2023 before finishing the year in more of a reserve role. Guys like Blackmon, McGlothern and even rising undrafted rookie Zemaiah Vaughn were expected to push for playing time this summer.
Versatility is key when it comes to the Vikings’ secondary. Both Murphy and newly-extended safety Josh Metellus have the chops to line up in the slot at a moment’s notice. Okudah has mostly played on the outside in the NFL, so his progress in the slot this offseason is notable, and could explain why the team hasn’t made a bigger move for guys like Asante Samuel Jr. or Rasul Douglas.
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Category: Football
