A 2025 Vikings Gamble Has Vanished

A year ago, the Minnesota Vikings once again had to rebuild their cornerback room. Previous starters Stephon Gilmore and Shaq Griffin were not retained for a second season and the Vikings had to be creative.

Brian Flores, a defensive coordinator who has mastered the craft of building elite defenses with uninspiring cornerback play, identified a former high draft pick as a CB3 option with upside. The risky swing brought Jeff Okudah to the Twin Cities on a cheap one-year contract.

Fast forward a year, and the once-promising cornerback has fallen off the face of the earth.

Okudah spent his one year with the Vikings in another unsuccessful chapter in his career. Then, the Vikings didn’t re-sign him and he entered the free agency market. Two months later, Okudah is still sitting there, waiting for a new employer to surface.

The defender appeared in only six games with the Vikings, starting none of them. He was primarily used in packages requiring a third cornerback behind Byron Murphy and Isaiah Rodgers.

His final stat sheet shows 14 tackles on 93 defensive snaps and another 35 on special teams. He couldn’t secure an interception in his limited playing time.

In fact, whenever he was on the field, quarterbacks appeared to throw his way, which is never a good sign. Okudah received an abysmal PFF grade of 32.4. Those grades shouldn’t be taken as gospel, but it’s still one of the worst grades in the NFL, and they matched the eye test. He was also credited with 12 targets, allowing 11 catches for 175 yards and one touchdown, resulting in a passer rating of 146.5, coming close enough to a perfect passer rating of 158.3.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t fix those grades because the second concussion of the season led to a stint on IR and an early end to the season.

His time in Minnesota started quite well, when Justin Jefferson praised him in the summer: “He has that speed … and he has that ability to really play-make and just be an annoying cornerback. That’s what I like to call those types of corners, ‘annoying cornerbacks,’ because they know how to be physical. They know how to get you off your route and not be able to have free access.”

Okudah has the height and the physical strength (6’1″ and 205 lbs) to be a problem for receivers, but he has never consistently been that in his NFL career.

Injuries have certainly been an issue in his career. Minor soft-tissue injuries limited him in his 2020 rookie season, and a torn Achilles robbed him of all but one game in 2021. Due to a hip injury, he played only six games in 2024 with the Texans, for a total of 12 games over the last two seasons, which explains the league’s inactivity in free agency.

Vikings Territory’s Dustin Baker wrote last week, “Okudah had a difficult stint as Minnesota’s CB3, hampered by concussions and poor play. When on the field, opposing quarterbacks frequently targeted him, exploiting his struggles. The former third overall pick appears to be in the later stages of his career, with the ‘2020 draft bust’ label now firmly attached.”

Someone might still take a flyer. Former first-round picks generally get jobs until they decide to ride into the sunset, though the results rarely change for those with a “bust label attached”, as Baker described.

The Vikings have once again made some moves in the cornerback room, but the starting duo for once remained. In free agency, James Pierre was added. The veteran should be a more consistent third option for Flores. Last month, Charles Demmings, an FCS star, arrived on Day 3 of the draft. He has all the physical tools to surprise folks, but that might take some time, given the jump in competition.

Okudah turned 27 earlier this year. He has been employed by the Lions, Falcons, Texans and Vikings, playing in only 50 games through six seasons.

Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.

Janik Eckardt is a German sports nerd, who likes numbers and stats. He chose the Vikings to be his … More about Janik Eckardt