The Minnesota Vikings got a great value pick in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, taking former Clemson cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. with the No. 42 overall selection (10th pick of the second round) on Friday night.
Booth underwent hernia surgery recently, which kept him from participating in the NFL Scouting Combine and Clemson’s Pro Day last month — hurting his draft stock and ultimately causing him to slide out of the first round — but NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah is high on Booth and said during the network’s coverage of the draft that he is “excited” for both Booth and the Vikings.
“I spent a lot of time studying Andrew Booth… He’s a good football player,” Jeremiah said. “I’m excited for him, I’m excited for the Minnesota Vikings. They got a good one. This would’ve been a first-round pick if he had been healthy through the process. Had that hernia surgery, wasn’t able to participate at the combine or the pro day. This is a darn good football player.”
A highlight-reel athletic corner, Booth departed for the NFL Draft after his junior season with the Tigers after recording 75 tackles (5.5 for loss), 10 pass breakups, five interceptions, a sack and a fumble recovery (which he returned 21 yards for a touchdown) over 35 career games (15 starts) from 2019-21.
In addition to earning first-team All-ACC honors in 2021, Booth also earned first-team all-conference honors from the AP, PFF and Phil Steele last season after recording 39 tackles (3.0 for loss), five pass breakups and a team-high three interceptions in 11 games (all starts).
“This is an excellent man-to-man cover guy who’s also a more-than-willing tackler out on the edge,” NFL Network analyst Charles Davis said.
Joel Klatt pointed out that Booth played clean football at Clemson and drew few penalty flags in coverage.
“He only had one PI (pass inteference) call in the last couple of years, so he knows how to play on the outside,” the analyst said.
Clemson Variety & Frame is doing their part to help bring you some classic new barware and help one of the local businesses that helps make Clemson special.
Order your Nick’s barware and do your part to help. #SaveNicks
