Andrew Booth Quietly Passed on Vikings Depth Chart by Other Rookie
Dustin Baker
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When the Minnesota Vikings unveiled its unofficial Week 1 depth chart, Jonathan Bullard as a starting defensive end wasn’t the only surprise. Rookie CB Andrew Booth was buried and passed by another first-year defender.
The move seemingly occurred in the shadows, and just like that, Akayleb Evans, a rookie from Missouri, lapped Booth on the first regular season depth chart.
For now, Minnesota’s cornerback depth chart looks like this:
CB1: Patrick Peterson
CB2: Cameron Dantzler
CB3: Chandon Sullivan
CB4: Akayleb Evans
CB5: Kris Boyd
CB6: Andrew Booth
And it wasn’t always that way for Booth and Evans. The Vikings released the first preseason depth chart in August, and the two men were essentially flipped, with Evans at the “back” of the depth chart and Booth living in CB4 territory.
Of course, Booth can still regain his spot as the 2022 regular season has yet to begin. But the swap is a little odd, especially because Booth was drafted in the 2nd Round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and Evans was plucked from Round 4.
The Vikings actually traded a 2023 4th-Round draft pick and 2022 5th-Rounder for Evans to the Cleveland Browns, and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah famously stated Evans “was a guy I remember watching at night. I’d sometimes watch him[ed] in the dark.”
Evans is tall and lean, viewed as a disruptor in the secondary. He might be “raw” for game-readiness, but a verdict shall be rendered in the coming weeks — especially if he sees defensive snaps and Booth does not.
A master of social media, Evans has also captivated Vikings fans’ hearts, engaging the masses on Twitter ad nauseam. He posts something like this nearly every day:
In time, Evans hopes to become only the second Pro Bowler in Vikings history drafted from the 4th Round. The other man was Everson Griffen, who remains a free agent.
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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