Does Stephon Gilmore Fix the Minnesota Vikings’ Cornerback Issues?

Minnesota Vikings fans woke up to great news on Sunday with the signing of Stephon Gilmore. While he’s no longer the same elite athlete who won Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, now he’s the best cornerback the Vikings have. But just how much will Gilmore help Brian Flores’ defense in 2024?

How good is Stephon Gilmore?

We know Stephon Gilmore is 33 years old. But he still played at a very high level last season. Pro Football Focus had Gilmore ranked fifth among all NFL cornerbacks last season in press coverage. PFF took a deeper dive into how he played last season while starting all 17 games for the Dallas Cowboys. Here were their takeaways.

“Even in his age-33 season, Gilmore was still an above-average cornerback, and his 74.4 grade ranked in the top 25 at the position. But it’s in press coverage where Gilmore really shined in 2023, earning a 76.3 grade across 190 snaps. He allowed just 311 yards and a sub-50% completion percentage when targeted on that workload, and he was targeted on only 19.5% of his coverage snaps. On top of that, Gilmore forced nine incompletions and made six stops. His size and length will always make him a tough test.“

Pro Football Focus analyzing Stephon Gilmore’s 2023 season

Gilmore is 6’0″, 190 pounds, with 31-inch (average) arms. But the former South Carolina Gamecock’s superpower is disrupting the ball while it is in the air. Gilmore has recorded at least 10 pass deflections in eight of his twelve NFL seasons and multiple interceptions in ten of them.

Byron Murphy Jr. was the only member of the 2023 Vikings secondary with more than nine pass deflections last season (13). Murphy is also just one of two Minnesota Vikings with multiple interceptions last season (3). Safety Cam Bynum was the other (2). In other words, Gilmore immediately becomes one of the best defenders in this secondary.

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Minnesota Vikings suddenly have a deep cornerback room

Last week, the Minnesota Vikings swapped cornerbacks with the Dallas Cowboys via trade. Today, they signed one of the Cowboys’ top cornerbacks from last season, Stephon Gilmore, who’s immediately expected to join the starting lineup.

No doubt, that’ll give Brian Flores a respectable partner opposite Byron Murphy Jr., who can also move to the slot in nickel packages. One-time Pro Bowler Shaq Griffin is likely to play outside in three cornerback packages.

• Stephon Gilmore stats (career): 158 starts, 561 tackles, 31 INT, 2 TD, 140 PD, 7 FF
• Super Bowl champion, 2019 DPOY, 2x All-Pro, five Pro Bowls

At the nickel, Coach Flores is likely to continue being creative, using players like the human Swiss Army knife Josh Metellus. But this position could be used to try a number of different options, depending on the matchup and defensive package the Vikings are in.

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After that core group, it will be a fight to the finish to make the 53-man roster. Former fourth-round pick Akayleb Evans is likely a lock to make the team. But who snags the fifth and potentially sixth cornerback spot is anyone’s guess.

This job could go to veteran Fabian Moreau, newly acquired Nahshon Wright (who has freakish 6-foot-4 height), fan-favorite Duke Shelley, or undrafted rookie Dwight McGlothern, to name a few. At this point, the Vikings no longer need to add another veteran cornerback.

In fact, they might even be able to trade someone like Moreau, Shelley, or Evans to give McGlothern a chance to see what he can develop into. The 6’2″ undrafted rookie is coming off a dynamite 90-yard interception return, and the Vikings are big fans of the 22-year-old.

Man i miss the end zone im ngl https://t.co/NonYDfL4ne

— Dwight McGlothern Jr (@nudiemcglothern) August 18, 2024

Suddenly, the Vikings’ cornerback stable is looking formidable again. Whether they’re as good on the field as they look on paper remains to be seen, but at least Coach Flo has plenty of tools to work with.