A Tall, Speedy Vikings Corner is Now Hanging on for Dear Life

In Dwight McGlothern, the Vikings have somebody who boasts upside but who needs further refinement. At what point does that belief in future growth need to shift toward investing in another player?

The Vikings corner has already overcome long odds. As an undrafted rookie, McGlothern made the roster, but was seldom used due to the four veterans ahead of him (Byron Murphy Jr., Stephon Gilmore, Shaq Griffin, and Fabian Moreau). As a sophomore, McGlothern yet again made the final roster, but was again buried behind several veterans (Murphy, Isaiah Rodgers, and Jeff Okudah). Seeing that trend continue appears unlikely.

The Tall & Fast Vikings Corner Needs to Battle

Nicknamed “Nudie,” Mr. McGlothern offers a lot to like (including a fantastic nickname).

He stands at 6’2″ and weighs 185 pounds. Basically, super long but not as sturdy as someone like Xavier Rhodes (listed at 6’1″ and 218 pounds). Boasting his build means (in theory) being able to hang with tall outside receivers. So far, the Vikings haven’t given him the chance to do so. Note that he ran a 4.47 forty. That’s not unheard of speed, but it’s very good. In a rough sense, that speed is a touch better than Murphy but not as formidable as Rodgers.

As a rookie in 2024, Dwight McGlothern earned 19 snaps on defense and just 17 snaps on special teams. He then had 31 snaps on defense in 2025 while offering 20 snaps for Matt Daniels on specials.

For a variety of reasons, those snap totals are quite odd.

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Seeing a young fella — especially an undrafted player — fail to earn a beefy workload early on isn’t strange. What is strange, though, is carving out a roster spot for this player when there’s not a special teams job. Most youthful players ply their trade on specials while trying to earn more snaps on either offense or defense. Not so with McGlothern.

Somehow, the Vikings corner has stuck around while offering a negligible workload for defense and special teams. How long can that continue?

In theory, McGlothern’s big chance arrived last year. Very unfortunately, Mr. Okudah yet again went down due to injury. Minnesota’s planned CB3 had to step away to get back to full health. The only other corner on the active roster was McGlothern, but Minnesota opted to bump up Moreau from the practice squad to handle the job, bypassing the built-in roster solution.

Curiouser and curiouser, some literary folks may say.

As 2026 keeps moving along, Dwight McGlothern faces a fresh round of competition. Worse yet, many of these guys look very similar to him: long, speedy corners.

Most prominent have been the additions of James Pierre and Chuck Demmings. Neither of these two are going to be subtracted. All things being equal, Pierre and Demmings are moving toward spots on the 53-man roster. If so, then that leaves McGlothern in a difficult position since last year’s final team only had four corners. The quartet of Murphy, Rodgers, Pierre, and Demmings would chew through those open slots if the Vikings again roll with four.

McGlothern’s job is to show that a fifth player is worthy of keeping. Doing so without being a special teams contributor feels like a tall ask for the soon-to-be third-year player. Can any of Zemaiah Vaughn, Marcus Allen, or some of the other young fellas prove capable of being that upside corner to develop?

Dwight McGlothern is 24.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

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