Vikings Training Camp: Minnesota struck gold in April’s NFL Draft, and Brian Flores is reaping the dividends
Every so often, there is a day three pick who stands out above the rest. Right now, that is Charles Demmings.
When you play cornerback, there is a certain energy and swagger that you need to have. An unbridled confidence where you can come back out and play your best after allowing a big play.
On the Minnesota Vikings, nobody exudes that more than Charles Demmings, known also by the name Chuck.
“Chuck D’s got a he’s a very confident individual, high energy, great teammate, hard worker,” said defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
Charles Demmings is showing out in training camp
That line about wide receiver Justin Jefferson being a nameless, faceless opponent is perfect for a cornerback. What other position would talk about the best wide receiver in the game like that? He doesn’t just live it with the relentless energy facing opponents; that’s just who Demmings is.
“Chuck, oh yeah, Chuck. That’s one of the guys right there,” said cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. “In our room. The energy never stops. We’re always having fun.”
He isn’t just playing around; Demmings is that guy. There isn’t anything fake about him, and it helps him thrive on the field. On Saturday, he got a couple of reps with the first team in 7-on-7. Often times, teams will throw young players into the fire to see if they can hang. Demmings didn’t just hang; he kept up with Jefferson and Jordan Addison. That continued on Monday when he locked down Jefferson on a corner route.
“In those individual drills, you’ll see him working his footwork, hand placement, and then he tries to apply those in the team settings. So he’s done a good job so far, and just continued to improve on a daily basis,” said Flores.
Coming out of Stephen F. Austin in the FCS, there were some questions about whether or not he would translate to the NFL. It’s three or four levels below the NFL depending on how you classify the UFL and CFL, but he quickly erased those at the Senior Bowl by showing out against the Power-4 wide receivers who attended the week of practice in Mobile, Alabama.
Once the Vikings took Demmings in the fifth-round, the fit was seamless. He was mainly an outside cornerback who was sticky on wide receivers and attacked the ball at a high level. That has already started to show itself on the practice field, and he’s not the only rookie showing off.
“And I actually just talked to that whole kind of rookie DB group, you know Tyreek [Chappell], Marcus Allen, DA [Da’Veawn Armstead],” said Flores. “I mean they’re all doing a really good job. Had to shout them out a little bit today, and hopefully continue to grow, improve, and just take this thing one day at a time.”
Cornerback is a very interesting position for the Vikings right now. The top three are relatively set with Murphy, Isaiah Rodgers, and James Pierre. After that, Demmings is fighting with Zemaiah Vaughn and Dwight McGlothern for that CB4 spot, which may be all the Vikings keep on the roster.
We are only five practices in, but what the last two practices have shown what Demmings could be; all we need to see is more consistency. Based on the beginning of training camp, that’s bound to happen, and he could be a guy for the Vikings.
