Byron Murphy Jr., Isaiah Rodgers, and Fabian Moreau — those men held down the fort for the Minnesota Vikings at cornerback in Week 9. Missing? Second-year undrafted free agent Dwight McGlothern.
After some on-the-field action on Sunday at the Detroit Lions, it became evident that one Vikings defender is backlogged on the team’s depth chart.
McGlothern made the 53-man roster at the end of the summer, but when the rubber has hit the road in the regular season, the club chose Moreau, a practice squader, over him for real-time game action.
Vikings CB Dwight McGlothern Lapped on Depth Chart
It’s a strange ordeal for the reserve corner.
Fabian Moreau Chosen over Dwight McGlothern
When Jeff Okudah missed last weekend’s game due to his second concussion of the season, many expected McGlothern to take over the CB3 role — because he’s the CB3 on the depth chart right now.
Minnesota’s coaching staff disagreed.
Instead, Moreau got the call from the practice squad, and the 31-year-old played 27 defensive snaps. McGlothern played zero and hasn’t really been used this season outside of garbage time situations.
At least for a week, McGlothern has been deprioritized.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Pounded the Table for Moreau Not Long Ago
Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell addressed reporters in late August, and with the regular season looming, the young general manager didn’t sound overly concerned about his cornerback situation. The tone was calm — almost content — as if he was ready to roll with what he had.
“Yeah, it’s a position where we have the ability to play Big Nickel and things like that, so we look at that group with that versatility. We were able to bring back Fabian Moreau, who we view as an NFL-caliber guy and has played a lot of snaps for us,” Adofo-Mensah said about his CB room two months ago.
“We’ll always be mindful throughout the season to look at different opportunities.”
The clues were there.
Implication for McGlothern?
So, this thing is a bit weird — let’s get that out there.
Somebody within the Vikings’ organization — Adofo-Mensah, personally or O’Connell — likes McGlothern. He would not have earned a spot on the 53-man roster if they didn’t. McGlothern possessed the juice to make the active roster; that isn’t easy to do.
However, when crunchtime hits — so, like, at the Detroit Lions with a CB injury demanding playing time for a reserve player — defensive coordinator Brian Flores completely bypassed McGlothern on the depth chart in favor of Moreau.
With that in play, McGlothern should be on the practice squad, with Moreau on the 53-man. Role reversal.
The only thing that might make sense is that McGlothern is too raw to play right now, but Minnesota knows another team would steal him from the practice squad and can’t risk that section of roster placement.
Otherwise, why the hell is a practice squader playing over the CB3-CB4?
One CB Injury Away from Panic
Moreover, McGlothern is one injury away from go-time, or so the theory goes.
The Vikings have been ravaged by injuries in 2025, but strangely, the two starting cornerbacks have ducked ailments altogether. If Byron Murphy Jr. or Isaiah Rodgers missed a single game, Minnesota would have no choice but to play McGlothern — or tunnel further down the depth chart to tab a player like Tavierre Thomas for duty.
The Vikings’ CB spot is a roster weakness, and the promising young corner in McGlothern evidently isn’t trusted on gameday outside of garbage time. Not ideal.
PPTSD on McGlothern
Our Janik Eckardt opined on the McGlothern situation this week: “Surprisingly, Brian Flores sent practice-squad player Fabian Moreau onto the field for 24 defensive snaps, equaling 37.5% of the defense’s plays. Jeff Okudah suffered a concussion in the game prior and missed the matchup against his old team.”
“The next man on the depth chart is actually Dwight McGlothern, an undrafted sophomore, but the young defender is nowhere to be found. He was active on gameday, but he didn’t log a single snap on offense or special teams.”
McGlothern has seen action in six games this season, with 30 defensive snaps and 13 on special teams.
Eckardt added, “The problem for McGlothern is that if he isn’t trusted on defense, there’s no reason to keep him around because he doesn’t offer any special-teams prowess (his preseason tape on coverage units was relatively poor), as proven by the latest shutout on his stat sheet.”
“Teams can dress only 48 players on gameday, and those players need to contribute on offense, defense, or special teams, which is why special-teamers often have long careers, while backups without talent in the third phase vanish from the league rather quickly. He’s still only 23 years old, but he won’t be on the team much longer if that trajectory continues.”
The Vikings are the only team in the NFL with a 4-4 record through nine weeks.
