It didn’t take Andrew Booth Jr. long to make a big impression on the first day of training camp Wednesday.
Early in Wednesday’s workout when the Minnesota Vikings opened 11-on-11 with the second-team defense facing off against the first-team offense, Booth provided one of the highlights of the day, when the former Clemson star cornerback undercut a route run by two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Justin Jefferson and made a sliding interception of a ball thrown by three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Booth’s highlight pick and overall performance during Minnesota’s first practice at training camp caught the eye of another Vikings Pro Bowler and longtime NFL star, Patrick Peterson — an eight-time Pro Bowl selection at cornerback — who was impressed by what he saw from the Vikings’ second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
“He looked pretty good,” Peterson said of Booth, via Pioneer Press. “He moved around really well. It looks like he’s healthy, so we’ll see if he can continue to build on that. I like how instinctive he is. He’s very quick at the line of scrimmage. He’s going to be a problem here pretty soon.”
Now fully healthy again after recovering from sports hernia surgery in March and going through spring drills in a limited capacity, Booth had his first opportunity at Wednesday’s practice to really show what he can do and said it “felt great” to let loose while going against elite competition in a guy like the aforementioned Jefferson.
“Just seeing full-speed offense, different looks, and I’m seeing the best in J.J. every day,” Booth added, via Vikings.com. “So, that’s going to get me ready for game one. So, it felt good.”
A first-team All-ACC selection at Clemson last season, Booth was selected 42nd overall by the Vikings in April’s draft and viewed as a great value pick by many after slipping to the second round.
Booth, who is competing for a starting spot at cornerback opposite of Peterson, began training camp on the second team. He feels the Vikings’ defense fits his skill set “very well” and noted that he has experience playing on a similarly complex defense in the one Brent Venables oversaw when he was Clemson’s defensive coordinator.
“I came from Clemson, and Coach V, Venables, his defense was very complex and this defense is very complex as well,” Booth said. “But more complexity comes more difficulty, different looks that the offense has to go against. So, I love the difficulty that they have to face, and it makes our jobs easier in all the checks that we have and things like that. So, it feels good.”
😤😤 @andrewbooth21#VikingsCamp pic.twitter.com/HdGmXSDzhz
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) July 28, 2022
Y’all will find out soon enough. @andrewbooth21 is that dude 🔒pic.twitter.com/TD2TmpkVp9
— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) July 28, 2022
OUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/s8fw89UulL
— Malcolm Greene (@airmgreene) July 28, 2022
