Daily Norseman
Throughout the 2025 NFL season, SB Nation’s Doug Farrar will write about the game’s Secret Superstars — those players whose performances might slip under the radar for whatever reasons. In this installment, we obviously have to take a closer look at Minnesota Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, who made all kinds of history against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores pounded the table for Rodgers this offseason, the Vikings signed him, and Rodgers has been all about proving Flores right.
In the 2025 offseason, when Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell and defensive coordinator Brian Flores were discussing how to fortify their defense with new players, Flores brought up a little-known cornerback who had never had more than 366 coverage snaps in his four previous NFL seasons as someone who might really pop in his playbook. So, the Vikings signed former Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rodgers to a two-year, $11.045 million contract with $7.995 million guaranteed, and hoped it would pay off as “Flo” said it might.
Turns out, that Brian Flores guy knows a thing or two about player acquisition and development. Because in Sunday’s 48-10 demolition of the Cincinnati Bengals, Rodgers had not only the game of his life, but one of the most remarkable games for any cornerback… well, ever.
Rodgers became the first player in NFL history with an interception return touchdown of 85 or more yards and a fumble return touchdown of 65 or more yards in the same game. He’s also the first player since 2000 with two forced fumbles and two touchdowns in the same game, and the first player in Vikings history to score multiple defensive touchdowns in a game. Rodgers was also sticky in coverage outside of the splash plays — he was targeted three times by the Bengals, and allowed no catches — but it’s the big stuff that makes the headlines.
The point is that in the 2020 sixth-round pick out of Massachusetts, the Vikings appear to have themselves quite a Secret Superstar.
“I can remember vividly the conversation with Brian Flores about him when, and the vision for the player, the vision pairing him with Murph [Byron Murphy Jr.], and what we thought that could be,” O’Connell said after the game. “You know, Flo, I don’t want to go through the time we’ve been together, and those types of names, when he’s got that tone in his voice, when he brings it to me, and we collectively collaborate with the personnel side. But Isaiah was on that list of guys, and the other ones that he’s mentioned have turned out pretty darn well here. And then some of the guys that maybe went elsewhere, those guys have showed up well. So I think it’s a matter of Flo’s impact and his ability to have vision for players like we’ve seen here with two free agencies now, where there’s been an immediate impact on our team from some of these guys that show up,...
