One Viking Has Returned after Absence
When Minnesota Vikings training camp got off the ground last month, the club lost two cornerbacks: Mekhi Blackmon to a torn ACL and Shaquill Griffin to a hamstring ailment.
One Viking Has Returned after Absence
Fast forward a month, and Griffin is on his way back to practice, with the Vikings’ regular season less than three weeks away.
Star Tribune’s Andrew Krammer tweeted Monday, “Vikings returned to practice today at TCO after week in Cleveland. No pads in first of four practices this wk CB Stephon Gilmore, in No. 23, already getting first-team reps at left corner when Byron Murphy moves into the slot. CB Shaq Griffin (hamstring) returned at right corner.”
Griffin’s return is welcomed, especially after a Vikings summer hit hard by injury and tragedy. Even after Gilmore joined the club on Monday, Griffin remains on deck to start on the outside of Brian Flores’ 2024 defense, with Murphy in the slot, as Krammer mentioned.
When Griffin was initially injured, fans, of course, grumbled because Blackmon had been lost for the season shortly before. It felt like a carefully constructed offseason defensive plan simply collapsed. Now, however, with Griffin battling back and Gilmore in the house, the team’s secondary may not be too woeful after all.
Griffin joined the NFL as a member of the Seattle Seahawks in 2017 from the 3rd Round of the NFL Draft. Since then, he’s tabulated a Pro Bowl appearance, 366 total tackles, 64 passes defended, 7 interceptions, 3 QB hits, and 1 sack — in 89 career games, 79 of which he started.
Here’s the tale of the tape from Pro Football Focus for Griffin:
- 2017 = 65.3
- 2018 = 54.7
- 2019 = 77.0
- 2020 = 64.1
- 2021 = 72.0
- 2022 = 61.8
- 2023 = 67.0
After Khyree Jackson’s tragic passing on July 6th and Blackmon’s injury three weeks later, Griffin felt like a godsend, at least per summer roster depth. But when he, too, was injured at training camp, Vikings fans began panicking a bit because no team can really survive three meaningful CB tragedies and injuries.
The Vikings ranked 32nd per completion percentage allowed in 2023, making the secondary the only portion of the defense that truly struggled most of the time. The rest of the enterprise ranked 11th per DVOA last season, up 13 spots from a 24th ranking in 2022.
Overall, this is the Vikings’ CB room with Griffin’s return in motion:
- Stephon Gilmore
- Byron Murphy
- Shaquill Griffin
- Fabian Moreau
- Akayleb Evans
- Dwight McGlothern
- Nahshon Wright
- Duke Shelley
- Jaylin Williams
- A.J. Green III
- Jacobi Francis
Minnesota will likely keep 4 to 6 of those men for the September roster.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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