Vikings

The Vikings traded back from No. 12 to No. 32 and drafted Georgia safety Lewis Cine. Here's how it went down in Minnesota.

But Adofo-Mensah didn’t want to end his first draft night without a pick and the desire for Cine (pronounced “seen”) was strong. So that was a great moment, something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.” It’s easy to envision him playing next to Harrison Smith for a couple of years and eventually becoming the stalwart Smith has been on the Vikings’ backend. “There was a curveball thrown in right at the end that tested our plan,” Adofo-Mensah said. The No. 32 pick is a popular one for quarterback-needy teams looking to trade up, since a first-round pick ensures teams get a fifth-year option in the rookie contract. They could offer the last pick in the first round and the second pick in the second round as well as a third-rounder. We looked at the big picture and what it could be and what it ultimately might be in the end.” Adofo-Mensah was willing to take the Vikings in a lot of different directions on Thursday night. Adofo-Mensah, who initially sat in a draft room as the analytics guru who provided insight on trade charts, made the final call to move back. But they also thought the Lions would strike a deal with the Houston Texans at No. 13 if the Vikings said no. In an offseason with a lot of moves that have felt awfully similar to ones made by the previous regime in Minnesota, it seemed only fitting that the Vikings’ new brass traded back to accumulate picks and add a defensive player. The top cornerbacks, Derek Stingley Jr. and Sauce Gardner, had been taken with picks No. 3 and 4, and, sure, that was a bummer.

EAGAN, MN (AP) - The Minnesota Vikings began the NFL draft with their highest first-round pick in six years on...

With new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah at the helm, the Vikings sent the 12th overall selection and pick No. 46 to Detroit for the 32nd, 34th and 66th overall selections. Justin Jefferson has put his name all over the team and league record books over his first two years, but stalwart Adam Thielen will be 32 before the season starts and will need a replacement sooner than later. Cine was the fifth defensive player from Georgia taken in the first round, an NFL record. K.J. Osborn emerged as a solid No. 3 option, too, but new head coach Kevin O’Connell came from the Super Bowl champion Rams, where three-wide receiver formations were the norm. Hamilton went at No. 14 to Baltimore. He had one interception in 15 games.

EAGAN — Trading down 20 spots in the first round like the Minnesota Vikings did on Thursday night means having to watch a lot of instant-impact talent come ...

Cine was the fifth defensive player from Georgia taken in the first round, an NFL record for one school. Versatility from the safety spot is a key goal for new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell’s scheme. Jefferson has put his name all over the team and league record books over his first two years, but stalwart Adam Thielen will be 32 before the season starts and will likely need a replacement sooner than later. Hamilton went at No. 14 to Baltimore. But the former Wall Street trader with degrees from Princeton and Stanford wasn’t worried as much about that. He had one interception in 15 games.

EAGAN, Minn. — It took a while — 20 draft spots following a trade down by Minnesota — but the Vikings made the franchise's 700th all-time pick in an NFL ...

"That's what we'll go through [Thursday night and Friday] and make sure we've got a great plan for how we want to go about things, and then we'll just take it one pick at a time and see if any value presents itself that could help us possibly add more picks. "When we asked [Georgia players], 'Which one of your teammates would you love to bring with you?' — and we talked to a lot of those guys, but Lewis Cine's name came up a lot," O'Connell said. "We just came to our decision that way," Adofo-Mensah continued. Minnesota also still has the No. 77 pick that it already possessed. It's not like you call somebody if you were buying a house and say, 'Hey, it should be worth this.' Well, they might not pay that," Adofo-Mensah added. "We really looked at is as, 'Hey, what is your outcome if you don't do this trade versus what is your outcome if you stay and pick?' Ultimately, the division thing does come into it. "Everything is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. "We had played out so many scenarios leading into this that when you actually start seeing the names come off the board and kind of the situations present itself with possible deals and possibly staying at the pick, just as I expected, Kwesi was fantastic," O'Connell said. "Just the whole process of getting there and knowing we ended the night having added a pick. "I mean, it's the ultimate irony, right? But also, 'Hey, they have to play the Minnesota Vikings and all the players we're going to get.' We're going to go from there. So if we don't do the trade, there are odds they can do a trade anyway.

After trading back in the draft, the Minnesota Vikings selected Lewis Cine with the 32nd pick on Thursday. What can they expect from his rookie season?

Grabbing a player like Lewis Cine with the 32nd pick is great value and fills an immediate need for their defense. After trading down from the 12th overall pick, the Minnesota Vikings landed Georgia safety Lewis Cine with the 32nd overall pick on Thursday night. Malik Willis was not selected in the first round and could be a massive target on Day 2.

The first day of the draft was a chaotic mess. One of the more fun first rounds in recent memory topped its own Marquise Brown trade with an A.J. Brown.

If the Vikings were as high on Cine as Kwesi Adofo-Mensah implied after the draft, then maybe the difference between Cine and Hamilton wasn’t all that big to them. Perhaps the Vikings just weren’t as high as Hamilton as I am. Cine could learn more in his time in the NFL. If he developed his cover skills in man-to-man coverage, he’d become a much more formidable option. To combat the two receivers, the Vikings send out two corners ( Patrick Peterson and Chandon Sullivan). To combat the other side, they send out Harrison Smith to cover the tight end and Cam Dantzler to cover the wideout with Bynum playing high safety. The Vikings did not get the best safety in the draft, though. He doesn’t have the ball skills of a true cover safety either, only notching one interception in his career. Imagine you are a quarterback playing against the Vikings. Say you’re in a 2×2 formation, with two receivers on one side of the formation, and a receiver and tight end split out on the other side. The Rich Hill chart has the Vikings losing the trade by about 50 points, equivalent to a third-round pick. Detroit is a division rival, as easy as that is to forget. Bynum, Cine, and Harrison Smith can all be on the field at the same time, not unlike the three-safety sets the Vikings used over the last two years. At the time, it made some sense to pass on Hamilton. After all, the Vikings have Cam Bynum and feel pretty good about him. At pick No. 12, the Vikings were on the clock.

Lest you thought that “mock draft season” was over until 2023, there are some folks out there that have put together some projections for what they expect to ...

Although the Minnesota Vikings added Za’Darius Smith in free agency, that shouldn’t preclude them from adding extra talent on the edge. Any of those second and third-round mocks do anything for you as a Vikings fan? Dean is the biggest slider of the draft – he could’ve gone in the top 15 and no one would’ve blinked – and now he falls right into their lap. The Vikings continue to upgrade their secondary with this selection. We’re all eagerly awaiting Night 2 of the 2022 NFL Draft, and the Minnesota Vikings are currently slated to have three selections in tonight’s action. Lest you thought that “mock draft season” was over until 2023, there are some folks out there that have put together some projections for what they expect to happen in Rounds 2 and 3.

The wheels of potential change at quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings are in motion. Incumbent passer Kirk Cousins is financially committed to the ...

Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. But Willis-to-Minnesota would change everything. Regardless, selecting Willis would be a Kwesi Moment, a welcome-to-Minnesota flex unforeseen before this week. For four years, Minnesota has employed a quarterback in Cousins, who some insist isn’t very good, while others champion his consistency and production. Instead, Minnesota abided by respectful trade metrics and concocted an even-steven deal with Detroit. - 34th Pick (R2)

12:00: Star Tribune Timberwolves beat writer Chris Hine joins host Michael Rand to help set up the critical Game 6 of the playoffs Friday at Target Center. Can ...

And the Twins won their seventh straight game, something that would be a major headline if not for other major stories 12:00: Star Tribune Timberwolves beat writer Chris Hine joins host Michael Rand to help set up the critical Game 6 of the playoffs Friday at Target Center. Can Minnesota fend off elimination and send the series back to Memphis for a deciding Game 7? Introduction: The Vikings moved back 20 spots in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday, adding additional picks in the process.

What a scene from night one at the NFL Draft. We saw some monster trades for wide receivers and the teams moving all over the draft board.

This kid is good at the game of football. The Vikings are just getting started here, but I love the direction we are heading. Moreover, the Vikings themselves love this guy. The Vikings stick with the Bulldog defensive theme in the first round. However, PFF and OvertheCap both have this trade as a win for the Vikings. We shall see how this plays out going forward. We watched the betting markets change rapidly over the last few days, which inevitably led to the Vikings needing to make a decision.

CB Andrew Booth Jr. (Clemson): A former five-star recruit with a brief history of knee issues, Booth may be a risky upside draft pick. He turns 22 years old in ...

He's just 21 years old and suffered a torn ACL last spring, but returned to play four games last year and run a 4.47-second 40-yard dash in February. He was consistently productive, peaking with 1,292 yards last year as a savvy route runner. His production at such an early stage, with 8.5 tackles for losses and 4.5 sacks in 12 games last year, hint at a higher ceiling EDGE David Ojabo (Michigan): An Achilles injury during Michigan's pro day in March likely knocked Ojabo out of the first round, because he's got first-round talent. He's got ideal size (6-foot, 194 pounds) and agility to project as an NFL starter. He turns 22 years old in September and is coming off a season in which he led the Tigers with three picks in 11 games.

With nine trades in the first round it's easy for what Minnesota did to get lost in the shuffle, but there is absolutely no decent justification that can be ...

The saving grace is that a lot of talent is still on the board, and Minnesota could salvage this if things go right. However, even the models that show the Vikings winning note that their net gain was only tantamount to a late fourth round selection. Had the Vikings made that move, it would have been a big night for them. A lot not hinges on the 34th and 66th picks. The issue I have is that Minnesota lost control of the draft by moving back 20 spots. Now, that high third could be nice and there might be a lot of good players on the board, but nothing excuses dropping that far in the first round. Across four major models there are two that show the Vikings actually won this trade ... somehow. The classic is the Jimmy Johnson, which assigns each pick a numerical value. The Vikings are on the clock. That’s the feeling I’m left with after sleeping on the Vikings nonsensical decision to move back 20 places in the NFL Draft and get almost nothing in return. Then the trade is announced ... and it makes no sense. Let’s set the scene: Garrett Wilson comes off the board at No. 10 to the Jets, signifying that the run on wide receivers was about to begin.

CB Andrew Booth Jr. (Clemson): · CB Kyler Gordon (Washington): · CB Coby Bryant (Cincinnati): · EDGE David Ojabo (Michigan): · EDGE Boye Mafe (Minnesota): · EDGE ...

He's just 21 years old and suffered a torn ACL last spring, but returned to play four games last year and run a 4.47-second 40-yard dash in February. He was consistently productive, peaking with 1,292 yards last year as a savvy route runner. His production at such an early stage, with 8.5 tackles for losses and 4.5 sacks in 12 games last year, hint at a higher ceiling EDGE David Ojabo (Michigan): An Achilles injury during Michigan's pro day in March likely knocked Ojabo out of the first round, because he's got first-round talent. He's got ideal size (6-foot, 194 pounds) and agility to project as an NFL starter. He turns 22 years old in September and is coming off a season in which he led the Tigers with three picks in 11 games.

The Vikings had quite the eventful opening night of the 2022 NFL Draft, their first draft under the new regime of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O'Connell.

Cine catches up with opponents in a flash, and he brings the thunder as a hitter. The Minnesota Vikings traded all the way back to the 32nd overall pick after starting the evening with the 12th selection. And Cine didn’t miss a game in the past three seasons. Cine delivers some big hits in run support and is a reliable tackler in space with sideline-to-sideline range. With the 32nd pick, the Vikings took Georgia safety Lewis Cine, making him the fifth Bulldog defensive player picked in the first round. Instead of making their selection at No. 12 overall — with players like Kyle Hamilton, Jordan Davis, and Trent McDuffie on the board — they made a trade with the Lions that delayed their pick until the very end of the first round.

The NFL draft is always a matter of opinion, and everyone is different. The choice by the Minnesota Vikings to trade down from 12 with the Detroit Lions was ...

Being able to select a player at the top of the round is a good place to be. Probably the biggest surprise to fall out of the first round and if he doesn’t come off the board at 33. Every big board is different but what is undeniable is there are some good footballers left on the board who could have been selected in the first round. The Vikings don’t need a tackle. Whatever your initial thoughts are on the trade, it is essential to look at the draft board with Lewis Cine, now a Viking, and Minnesota set to pick second in round 2. The NFL draft is always a matter of opinion, and everyone is different.

Who is left for the Vikings in Rounds 2 and 3? They could trade down from No. 34, but here are 24 players they'll have their eyes on.

His size is a big concern and he may be limited to center in the NFL, but he added weight for the workout circuit and tested well. He can bend like a defensive end and he knows how to use his hands but will likely spend his first year as a situational player bulking up so he can better defend the run. He was a big-play receiver for them but would be an interesting intermediate option in the NFL. His best traits are his speed and agility, but he also showcases strength and a physical attitude. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has talked about how that versatility with the Rams was a big asset and that he’ll try to find ways to do something similar in Minnesota. The Vikings don’t have a viable backup tight end to Irv Smith, already an injury concern after missing all of last year. His size has pushed him down boards, but as part of a complement of receivers, he could be a matchup nightmare. He needs to add size and strength, but so did “tackle-only” super-athlete Ezra Cleveland, who is currently slated to play guard for the Vikings. Long and strong, Hall likes to bully offensive linemen, and the Vikings could use that next to fellow bullies Harrison Phillips and Dalvin Tomlinson. Hall’s ability to play at the nose or on the edge could mean the Vikings use him like they used Sheldon Richardson last year, as a high-quality emergency stopgap at any position along the line. There probably isn’t a meaner or more physical receiver in the draft, and it should be fun to pair someone who relishes this much contact with the offensive mind that found a way to use Cooper Kupp’s love of blocking. Another fantastic athlete at the position, Corral plays quarterback somewhat like Pickens plays receiver — with a lot of edge and confidence — which can get him in trouble but also draws admiration from teammates and coaches. His accuracy isn’t up there with other quarterbacks in the draft, but he has remarkable moments as a deep passer that make him a dynamic option down the road. There are a number of talented cornerbacks the Vikings could select to complement the Lewis Cine pick at the end of Round 1.