What the Vikings can expect from their Day 3 draft picks in 2021
By Luke Parrish
Camryn Bynum – S (California)
I was a big fan of Camryn Bynum as a cornerback at Cal but, he is apparently joining the Vikings as a safety. This does seem to fit his skill-set quite a bit better as he is a zone-coverage corner with a knack for tackling. So sliding him to strong safety is not a bad move.
With Xavier Woods signed to only a one-year deal, Minnesota needs to find a potential long-term answer next to Harrison Smith. For 2021, expect Bynum to be a special teamer as a gunner on kickoffs and punts with some depth insurance on defense.
His versatility will be helpful given how injuries impacted this team a year ago. Bynum can work out as a safety and be the third safety on the depth chart while also having enough experience to be a plug-in-play cornerback if someone goes down.
It appears as if the starting defense is pretty much set in stone at this point, so Bynum will not be forced into early action. If he can be a solid contributor on special teams and show his willingness to tackle on punt returns, he will slowly earn his stripes for this team.
If he is playing defensively in 2021, something probably went wrong for the Vikings. But him getting snaps on the defense still shouldn’t cause too many worries. Bynum was a four-year starter at Cal at cornerback and one would like to assume that experience will help him transition to the NFL.
However, him changing positions will probably urge Minnesota to keep him off the field until he is up to speed at safety.