Vikings Safety Offers Defiant and Bold Declaration
Dustin Baker
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Minnesota Vikings free safety Camryn Bynum is on the way to snagging a starting job in 2022, and the second-year defender emphatically believes he’s ready.
On Tuesday, Bynum announced his desire to become the greatest football player, well, ever.
Tom Brady, the beholder of seven championship rings, is a high bar to clear, but Bynum evidently has tall self-expectations.
Bynum was drafted in the 4th Round of the 2021 NFL Draft, fruit from the Stefon Diggs trade to the Buffalo Bills. The Vikings employed starter Xavier Woods at the time, lessening the need for Bynum to do much of anything in 2021.
But Bynum performed marvelously in small sample size, and the aforementioned Woods doesn’t play for the Vikings anymore. Woods bolted for the Carolina Panthers in free agency.
Bynum played on 21% of Vikings defensive snaps during his rookie campaign, even starting three games in relief of Harrison Smith. Immediately, Bynum made an impact. He started in Week 9 at the Baltimore Ravens for Smith, and somehow, the Vikings defense didn’t look diminished without Smith. Bynum notched 12 tackles, one interception, and then followed up the performance the next week with a sack at the Los Angeles Chargers.
He was flat-out good in 2021, and not many onlookers of the Vikings expected it.
All told, he produced 28 tackles, an interception, and a 20.3 passer-rating-against (albeit with a small sample size, eight targets). And that’s in addition to a 78.3 grade from Pro Football Focus. That was the third-highest score among all safeties drafted in 2021, behind Jevon Holland of the Miami Dolphins and Damar Hamlin with the Buffalo Bills.
Had he qualified for PFF‘s top safety ranking system — he had too few snaps to do so officially — Bynum would’ve checked in around the eighth-best safety in football. Not bad for an unsung rookie.
Unless Kyle Hamilton from Notre Dame falls to Minnesota with the 12th overall pick on April 28th, Bynum will likely start in 2022. His resume from 2021 was notable enough for a sequel.
It’s unlikely that he’ll become the “greatest player ever.” But don’t tell him that.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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