The Minnesota Vikings have retooled their secondary again this offseason, letting Shaq Griffin and Stephon Gilmore test the market while retaining Byron Murphy and bringing in Isaiah Rodgers. Murphy is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, finishing with six interceptions and a Pro Bowl nod. Still, there are massive questions behind him.
Rodgers offers a lot of promise, but he has produced on a limited snap size, and he must prove he can play like he did last year for an entire season. Mekhi Blackmon will return after missing his second season with a torn ACL. Therefore, the Vikings should consider using the draft to add more competition to their cornerback room.
One player they could look to add is Trey Amos from Ole Miss.
At 6’1”, 195 lbs., Amos has the prototypical size for an outside cornerback. He also has the ideal length you would want for a cornerback and maximizes those physical advantages.
Amos started his college career at the University of Louisiana, where he played from 2020 to 2022 before transferring to Alabama for one year and finally to Ole Miss. He proved his worth at every stop, improving his play every year. While he is slightly older at 23, he also shows maturity.
He excels in press-man coverage, using his size and length to jam his man at the line of scrimmage. Amos also can his hands to jam the receiver at the line and get the wide receiver off their timing. He makes the wide receivers work before even getting into the rep, forcing the wideouts to work harder on their releases. While Amos makes receivers work, he tends to get over-aggressive and cheat toward the outside, allowing some receivers to get inside releases on him.
He’s sticky in man coverage, using his physicality to close windows and make tight windows even tighter. Amos does an excellent job staying on his man on shorter and intermediate routes, sticking close to them at all costs. On vertical routes, Amos can use his size and length to give the receivers extra space before he uses his extra speed to get to the catch point to disrupt the pass.
While his physicality is unique, the mental aspect of his game is equally impressive. Amos can process and compute route patterns as the play develops and is rarely confused by anything he sees in front of him. His spatial awareness is just as noteworthy. As an outside corner, Amos demonstrates an acute awareness of where he is relative to the sideline. He can also eat space and force the quarterback and receivers into tight spaces near the sidelines.
Amos’ physicality also shows up in the run game. While his tackling form is still far from perfect, he’s tenacious in his pursuit of the ball carrier. He does have trouble tackling bigger players as he sometimes forgets his form and tries to out-physical them to the ground.
That physicality sometimes gets Amos in trouble. He can get a little bit grabby down the field and draw flags. While that worked in college, NFL officials tend to call games more closely, and he will need to learn how to stay on the right side of the line between aggressive and illegal.
While his man-coverage skills are excellent, Amos must work on his zone coverage. He sometimes gets flat-footed or shows hesitation in figuring out his responsibility, leading to his man getting free. While these instances are few and far between, he must ensure they don’t become a regular occurrence in the NFL.
Amos’ physicality and playstyle would largely fit within the Brian Flores defense. He would be an incredible addition to a secondary that feels a little bit thin. While pick 24 might be a little early for him, the Vikings could look to trade back and use a later Day 1 or early Day 2 pick on him while they recoup some draft capital.
