What to expect from new Vikings cornerback Bashaud Breeland

The Good

Experience

As stated earlier, Bashaud Breeland is entering his eighth season in the NFL and has played in 94 games during this professional career. Having 88 starts under his belt is a huge change from last year, where inexperience was a major issue for a Vikings secondary that took some major lumps in coverage without the help of a pass rush.

Breeland has already taken his lumps and is well aware of what it takes to be an NFL cornerback. Working with an old-school coach like Mike Zimmer should be both challenging and refreshing for a proven cornerback like him.

Confidence

When it comes to athletes in the NFL, there are two positions where you will likely find more players who carry themselves with great pride and are vocal about their abilities. Thankfully, those are cornerbacks and wide receivers.

One area where Breeland has absolutely no deficiency is confidence. He will be toe-to-toe against some of the best receivers in the league and he’ll do his best to control the style of play and force them to play his brand of football.

Still Evolving as a Defender

Breeland is never done learning. In fact, Pro Football Focus named him as their most improved player from the Chiefs in 2020 based on allowing only 47.5 percent of passes thrown his way to be caught and earning a coverage grade of 72.9 for the regular season.

Sometimes, a player who has been in the NFL will fall into a routine of doing their own thing and make the same mistakes over and over. Thankfully, Breeland isn’t afraid to made adjustments on the fly with confidence in his own abilities.