NFL Draft 2015: Vikings Take CB Trae Waynes With No. 11 Pick

A few have suggested that Michigan State CB Trae Waynes was overvalued in this draft, but clearly the Vikings didn’t agree. Tonight the Vikings followed the script as written by the majority of draft experts and selected Waynes #11 overall.

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If there was a consensus mock draft pick for the Vikings at 11, it had to be Waynes. The 6-0, 186-pound former Spartans star was viewed as a perfect fit for Mike Zimmer’s scheme with its emphasis on press-man coverage.

So what if Waynes has issues with small-area quickness and tackling technique. You can’t deny his speed, his size or his length.

Waynes is viewed as a man who can not only run with any deep receiver in the league, but has the strength to play tough press coverage at the line and the length to get in and break up plays.

There are questions about the nimbleness of Waynes’ feet while covering curl routes and the like. And there are some who believe he too often loses focus on the field. Such objections inspired some to argue that the Vikings should not consider Waynes at 11.

Why spend the #11 overall pick on a corner who is far from a finished, all-around player when you could wait until the late first or early second and get a nearly-comparable player in Jalen Collins or Marcus Peters or Byron Jones? So went the argument.

That argument doesn’t matter now because Waynes is the pick. The former Spartan has to be placed immediately in the mix at starting cornerback with veteran Terence Newman his only real competition. Captain Munnerlyn should now move inside to the slot on a permanent basis.

The good thing about having Newman is that it gives you the luxury of bringing Waynes along slowly, should those technical issues in his game prove difficult to solve.

Waynes will need some work as a tackler, there’s little question. It’s all fine and good to be a speed burner with the physicality to handle bigger receivers at the line but you also have to be able to make plays in run support, and there are concerns that Waynes might be a liability in that area.

I have every confidence that Mike Zimmer, once he gets working with Waynes, will be able to refine him into a solid cornerback. Will he ever become a Pro Bowler? We’ll see.

Next: Is Trae Waynes Overrated Garbage?

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