Vikings’ Brian Flores channels inner Mike Zimmer, makes pitch for another cornerback

Not everybody is fixated on which quarterback the Vikings should take in next week’s NFL draft.

Brian Flores, the team’s defensive coordinator, channeled his inner Mike Zimmer on Tuesday and essentially made a public pitch for another cornerback when asked if the free-agent acquisition of Shaquill Griffin meant the Vikings were now set at that position heading into the 2024 season.

“You can never have enough corners,” Flores said. “It’s a passing league. There are a lot of great receivers. So you can never have enough.

“I think every team feels that way. … We got a draft coming up. There’s a lot of excitement about that. We’ll see how that all shakes out. But I’m never going to say we have enough corners.”

Besides Griffin, a 28-year-old former third-round pick of the Seahawks, Flores’ cornerback room includes every player from last year’s depth chart, as well as 6-2, 198-pound A.J. Green III, a 25-year-old who went undrafted in 2020 and started two of 34 games with the Browns the past four years.

If the Vikings were to add a cornerback with the 11th or 23rd overall pick, the player would no doubt be skilled in the art of playing man coverage, something Flores used sparingly in his first season with the Vikings after years as a heavy man-coverage play-caller as defensive coordinator in New England and head coach in Miami.

“You don’t want to be all of something, and you don’t want to be in a situation where you never do something,” Flores said. “What you don’t want to do is become predictable. … I would say [more] man coverage this year is part of that.”

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Griffin comes to Minnesota with 79 starts, 89 games played and something to prove. Is he the Pro Bowler he once was in Seattle? Or is he a declining player who spent last season with two teams and had to go looking for another suitor after the season?

“I know he’s a really good football player,” Vikings safety Josh Metellus said. “To have a guy who is really good at man matching, which corners should be, it helps a lot.”

That’s the hope. If it comes to fruition, Flores envisions being able to play 26-year-old Byron Murphy Jr. more in the slot.

“I think [Murphy] was playing really, really good football prior to his injury,” said Flores, referring to a knee injury that cost Murphy the final three games last season after posting career highs for passes defensed (13) and tackles for loss (four).

“His position flexibility was something I felt we took advantage of. Perhaps getting him inside at nickel is something we can do a little more this year. He played more outside last year because that’s where we needed him.”

Flores also has 2022 second-round pick Andrew Booth Jr., who has been a disappointment; 2022 fourth-round pick Akayleb Evans, who has shown strengths but also was benched twice by Flores last season; promising 2023 third-round pick Mekhi Blackmon; and Joejuan Williams, a 2019 second-round pick of the Patriots.

Asked what he expects of Booth and Evans this season, Flores said: “I’ve been watching those two. Really everyone, but those two in particular. I went back and watched practice film, watched the preseason stuff. There’s a lot of good there. Just need more consistency with those techniques and fundamentals. I’ve had conversations with both guys. … It’s going to be a big offseason for them. I think they’re up for the challenge.”

Whether they are or they aren’t doesn’t change Flores’ stance heading into the draft: He’s always going to want just one more cornerback.