Cornerbacks have been quite a popular option for the Minnesota Vikings in the latest cycle of mock drafts. It’s easy to see why. The Vikings only have three cornerbacks on the roster in Cameron Dantzler, Andrew Booth Jr., and Akayleb Evans. They will need to add three players to the roster at least going into training camp, and there is one player that they should prioritize at either 23rd overall or with a trade back.
Meet Kansas State cornerback Julius Brents.
This draft cycle, I have compiled 192 industry mock drafts over the first nine weeks of the calendar year. Of those picks, 117 of them played cornerback in some way, shape, or form, with 14 unique players. Brents has not yet been included in those mock drafts.
Of all the cornerbacks who have been mocked to the Vikings, why wasn’t Brents? This is a very deep cornerback class, and he wasn’t seen at the top until a very impressive outing at the Reese’s Senior Bowl this February. Even so, the 6’3″, 198 lb. cornerback wasn’t getting drafted over other players at the position. His performance caught people’s attention at the combine.
Not only did Brents measure in as one of the biggest players in both the class and historically, he opened eyes by also testing like one of the best. Normally, you see bigger cornerbacks run in the mid-4.5’s or worse (think Richard Sherman), and they are likely only going to play in zone-heavy schemes. Brents showed the ability to play in both man and zone schemes, and the testing bore that out. His numbers were outstanding.
- 4.50 40-yard dash
- 1.57 10-yard split
- 11’6″ broad jump (second highest ever for a cornerback)
- 41.5″ vertical jump
- 6.63 three-cone
- 4.03 short shuttle
As an overall athlete for the position, Brents tested in the 98.2nd percentile.
One interesting element from his testing is the 10-yard split. It’s something that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah prioritized with his 10 draft picks and the one priority free agent they kept on the roster in Luiji Vilain. The slowest time of those 11 players belonged to seventh-round tight end Nick Muse and that split sat at 81.7th percentile. Brents is 14.1% points lower than that.
So why would he be on the Vikings’ radar? Versatility.
New defensive coordinator Brian Flores has preached versatility since his initial press conference and that is something that Brents provides in droves. His 34″ arms give him the ability to be great at the line of scrimmage but also down the field in any situation. That is right in the wheelhouse of what Flores wants. Let’s take a look at a couple of things that set Brents apart.
Powerful hands
Brents loves to use his length at the line of scrimmage. It gives him the ability to attack receivers much easier than a cornerback with shorter arms. This rep shows what kind of power his hands have. Quentin Johnston, another player the Vikings should target in the first round, goes in motion here. The look is cover-2 but they rotate into cover-1 with man coverage underneath. Brents destroys the receiver in front of him with such brute force that he is eliminated from the play. At that point, Brents just drops back in zone to keep himself involved in the play. Being on the heavy side of a 3×1 formation, this is a smart thing to do.
Recovery skills
Sometimes it’s not always about what you are skilled at in coverage, it’s about how you can make up for your deficiencies. Brents got beaten more than his fair share of times this past season with most of those instances coming in zone coverage. It’s something that happens to everyone, but it’s how you react to that loss that separates you from the rest.
Brents is playing in the flat in a cover-2 zone with no receivers out wide. He needs to be on the lookout for the tight end lined up on the far side and the running back running a wheel route. The latter is what happens and Brents lets the running back get behind him. That’s not ideal when the safety has little to no chance of getting there. Here is what separates Brents from the rest of the class: He attacks the ball through the hands of the running back. That length gives him an advantage that most cornerbacks don’t have. He can recover easily, which is necessary in Flores’ scheme.
Still needs work at the line of scrimmage
This is one of the main reasons that Brents wasn’t thought of in a better light before the combine. He lacks some of that physicality and technique when pressing the wide receiver. Yes, he has powerful hands and the length to get into the chest of the wide receiver. What he doesn’t always have is the aggression that you need in press, and the rep below is a great example of that.
Brents is going up against Johnston again here and tries to attack Johnston’s outside shoulder. The issue here is that he is back too far on his heels. When he attacks Johnston, he ends up flat-footed, doesn’t get a proper jam, and gets smoked to the inside for an easy slant pitch-and-catch.
The Vikings would be wise to pursue Brents because he possesses everything that you could want in a big, versatile cornerback. Will Adofo-Mensah want to go after him? That’s the question. Brents has a first-round grade on my board, and will almost certainly be available when the Vikings pick at 23. He also would be a prime selection in a trade-back scenario.
