Tag: Cam Bynum

WATCH: Vikings use teamwork to intercept Brock Purdy

The Vikings used teamwork to intercept Brock Purdy on Sunday.

As we mentioned after CJ Ham blocked the 49ers’ punt early in the first quarter, the Vikings would need to make more game-changing plays as the game moved on in order to beat the 49ers.

Minnesota did just that. And it was a pretty cool one.

Purdy, inside San Francisco territory, throws to the middle of the field. Linebacker Blake Cashman initially gets a hand on the ball, tips it to Josh Metellus, who tips it in the air, where safety Cam Bynum gets a hand on it. Finally, Metellus comes down with the interception.

After Minnesota got the ball, now deep in San Francisco territory, Sam Darnold found wide receiver Jalen Nailor for a 10-yard touchdown pass. Nailor split two defenders and was wide open in the endzone for the Vikings to take a 20-7 lead over the 49ers.

Darnold is up to 204 yards, two scores, and one interception in the game.

Vikings safety trio’s overall ratings revealed for Madden 25

Minnesota Vikings fans now know what the Vikings safeties are rated when Madden 25 launches.

Death, paying taxes, and Harrison Smith’s high ratings in the Madden video game franchise are certain in life, and they’ve happened once again this year. The popular video game franchise has released overall ratings for different positions daily.

The safeties overall ratings were revealed and once again, Smith is considered one of the top in the game. He is considered the No. 11 safety in the game with an 87 overall rating. But Smith is a strong safety and there are only four strong safeties who are rated higher than him.

Vikings starting free safety Camryn Bynum is the 31st-ranked safety in the game. When Madden 25 launches, he will have an 81 overall rating. Then Minnesota’s Swiss Army knife, Josh Metellus, has a 77 overall rating and is considered the 53rd-ranked safety in the video game.

These ratings are subject to change as the year goes on. Madden will continue to update ratings based on how players perform.

Despite their trio of safeties, PFF is not kind grading the Vikings’ secondary

Despite having one of the better trio of safeties, PFF is not high on the overall secondary room of the Minnesota Vikings.

Pro Football Focus liked the Minnesota linebacker room but did not like the Vikings defensive line whatsoever. Now onto the secondary rankings, once again, PFF is not high on this group for Minnesota either.

Despite having three good safeties in Harrison Smith, Cam Bynum, and Josh Metellus, PFF has ranked the Minnesota secondary at No. 27 in the NFL.

Defensive coordinator Brian Flores introduced an exotic defense in 2023, and it came with mixed results. Safety Camryn Bynum was the top-graded player in the secondary (73.2), while Harrison Smith’s 68.9 grade was the fourth-best on the team. Here, you get solid but not great players in the secondary, but no superstar players are taking this unit to higher levels.

Going away from the grades, Bynum led all corners and safeties last year with 104 tackles, and Metellus was 10th in the NFL with 86 tackles. While that’s just two players within a whole secondary unit, it feels like Minnesota has a top-10 safety room with some work-in-progress at corner. Byron Murphy is a legit corner for the Vikings, but when you get past him, there are some major concerns.

Minnesota signed Shaq Griffin, who had a few good seasons in Seattle. After Griffin, you get Andrew Booth Jr., Akayleb Evans, and Makhi Blackmon, who have potential but are very unproven.

Minnesota Vikings trio ranked among top 32 safeties by PFF

The Vikings’ solid trio of safeties are all ranked in the top 32 by Pro Football Focus with one perhaps not getting the credit he should.

The Vikings’ cornerbacks had their ups and downs in the 2023 season. But one fairly steady thing was the safeties.

Harrison Smith, a veteran of the league, has been a force ever since he arrived. He had yet another productive season, recording 93 tackles, three pass breakups, and three sacks. It was just the second season in his career he didn’t record an interception.

Camryn Bynum had himself a breakout season last year. The Cal product had 137 tackles, nine pass breakups, and two interceptions.

Then you have Josh Metellus, the do-it-all player. Last year, he went from being a special teams star to playing just about any position Minnesota needed on the defense. Metellus had 116 tackles, 2.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, and one interception during a huge season.

Heading into the 2024 season, all three are ranked in Pro Football Focus’ top 32 safeties.

Smith came in at 16th overall:

At 35 years old, Smith, who is arguably the best safety of the past 10 seasons, might not be the player he once was, but he still plays at a high level.

Across the first eight weeks of the 2023 season, he ranked 17th both in PFF overall grade and coverage grade. He allowed just 8.3 yards per reception in 2023, the fifth-lowest mark among safeties.

Metellus, the Swiss army knife, was ranked 19th overall:

Metellus flashed ability on his way to an 85.1 PFF overall grade in 2022 in a limited role, but 2023 represented a new challenge. It was the first time that Metellus logged more than 300 snaps, and he immediately topped 1,000. He did not disappoint in an increased role, as he was among the NFL’s more versatile safeties and led the position with 116 pass-rush snaps. He was one of just five safeties to earn coverage, pass-rush and run-defense grades all above 64.0.

PFF ranked Bynum as the 25th-best safety, perhaps underrating him:

Although he went through a sophomore slump in his first full season as a starter in 2022, Bynum bounced back and finished 2023 as the 22nd-ranked safety in PFF grade.

Bynum’s 85.7 overall grade after the first 14 weeks ranked fourth at the position. He also tied for the most forced incompletions over the season (nine) and could have had an even better season if he capitalized on a league-leading three dropped interceptions.

Referee knocks over Cam Bynum resulting in Commanders touchdown

You can’t make up the Vikings’ bad luck

The Minnesota Vikings had a tremendous first drive of the game but the second half didn’t start off well at all with the Commanders scoring a touchdown on the opening drive.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, they were on the wrong end of an incredibly fluky play as Commanders wide receiver Curtis Samuel caught a 49-yard touchdown to take a 10-7 lead.

What made the play so fluky? The back judge ran right into safety Camryn Bynum causing him to get knocked down instead of a likely interception.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, this isn’t something that can be changed. The referee is a part of the field of play and it ends up as an unfortunate, poor result for the purple and gold.

This isn’t the first time that it’s happened. The most notable was to Joe Horn and the New Orleans Saints back in 2001.

Hopefully, the Vikings can overcome this and find a way to win the game.

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Vikings’ Thursday injury report shows improvement

The injury report is improved from yesterday

The Minnesota Vikings began the week with six players designated on their injury report. While Cam Bynum is technically still listed on the report, he did not have a designation as he returned from his personal matter.

Jalen Nailor (illness) and Dalvin Tomlinson (calf) both didn’t practice for a second-consecutive day. With Tomlinson nursing a calf injury, I don’t expect him to play and head coach Kevin O’Connell said that they would be taking things week-to-week with the star defensive lineman.

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Cameron Dantzler stayed limited with a neck injury and Za’Darius Smith practiced in full for a second-consecutive day.

The good news on the day was Adam Thielen (knee) practicing in full after being limited on Wednesday.

Things continue to look good for the Vikings injury-wise as they prepare for the Commanders on Sunday.

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Cam Bynum says Vikings focusing on being more of a ‘team’ under Kevin O’Connell

Vikings focusing on building chemistry off the field so that it comes more naturally on it.

The Minnesota Vikings are building chemistry together on the field, but they’re also making the effort to build it off the field as well, according to safety Camryn Bynum.

New head coach Kevin O’Connell is really pushing team bonding and relationships through various activities.

Bynum spoke about the renewed focus on developing deeper relationships with the players he’ll be sharing the field with on Sundays.

“One thing we’ve been focusing on is just partnership with your teammates, being able to go out with your teammates and go paintballing or go eat together, just doing that and making more of a team,” said Bynum in an interview with Sportsnaut.

“…Obviously, the new coaching staff is different, but that’s something we have to do as players—to be able to know the guy next to us and know his life story, know how he reacts to coaching or how he reacts to confrontational issues just so you can be a better teammate at the end of the day.”

O’Connell had a front row seat to Sean McVay’s coaching methods as the offensive coordinator for the Super Bowl-winning Los Angeles Rams.

Despite there being a lot of moving parts for that group last offseason, they came together when it mattered most and went on an incredible run to capture the franchise’s second Lombardi Trophy.

O’Connell doesn’t necessarily run a loose ship, but he places the accountability on the players to be more in control of things. Ultimately, they’re the ones out there on the field performing.

It’s a complete contrast in styles from the one Minnesota experienced under former coach Mike Zimmer. Only time will tell if O’Connell’s way is the right way for the Vikings.

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