Former Vikings cornerback Duke Shelley, who emerged as a key contributor in the second half of the 2022 season, has signed with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Shelley's play down the stretch for the Vikings was one of the cooler stories of the year. A 2019 sixth-round pick by the Bears, he was waived by Chicago in final roster cuts and signed with the Vikings' practice squad shortly afterwards. When Cameron Dantzler was injured in November, Shelley was promoted to the active roster. He made a game-saving play in his first appearance for Minnesota, entered the starting lineup a few games later, and never gave his spot back, even when Dantzler was available.
Undersized at 5'9", Shelley felt he was misused as a slot cornerback with the Bears. He's an outside corner at heart — and he got the chance to prove that with the Vikings. In his first game on the active roster, the thrilling Week 10 road win at Buffalo, he only played three snaps but made a game-saving pass breakup against the much larger Dawson Knox in the end zone. Two weeks later, Shelley made his first Vikings start in a Thanksgiving win over the Patriots and again had a key PBU in the end zone.
It was a somewhat small sample size, but Shelley was legitimately a lockdown corner for the Vikings down the stretch. Pro Football Focus credited him with ten pass breakups and just 20 completions allowed on 41 targets in his coverage, good for a passer rating of 57.9 on those throws. In his return to Chicago in the regular season finale, Shelley recorded his first career interception.
Removing any snap minimums, Shelley was PFF's eighth-highest-graded cornerback in the league, with an 81.5 grade on 398 defensive snaps. He also got the start in the Vikings' playoff game against the Giants and played well.
This has a chance to be a steal of a pickup for the Raiders. Shelley only has one half-season of great play, but his poor numbers in Chicago were likely because he was playing out of position. If he gets an opportunity for major playing time on the outside with Las Vegas, he could continue to shine.
Shelley quickly became a fan favorite in Minnesota, so Vikings fans won't be thrilled by this news. It'll be interesting to see the details on his contract with the Raiders.
The Vikings' cornerback room currently consists of Byron Murphy, Andrew Booth Jr., Akayleb Evans, Kalon Barnes, and Tay Gowan.
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