2018 Season Preview: Is the Vikings’ defense even better?

Is Mike Hughes exactly what the Vikings’ needed?

Back on April 26, everything was lining up nicely for the Vikings in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. As their pick was approaching, there were still a handful of talented interior offensive linemen that would have been great addition to the team’s roster.

Then it came time for Minnesota to announce their selection. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell walked up to the podium and revealed that the Vikings had decided to use their pick on UCF cornerback Mike Hughes.

Another corner? Really?

Minnesota was already expecting the majority of their secondary back in 2018 from a unit that ended the previous season as the league’s second-best pass defense. But the Vikings still went ahead and used this year’s first-round draft selection on Hughes anyway.

Although, maybe Minnesota still filled a need with their new corner?

Minnesota Vikings

Hughes has been seeing a bunch of time on the field in the slot since he joined the Vikings this year. Despite mostly lining up on the outside during his time at UCF in 2017, the rookie corner has been drawing a ton of praise for his work on the inside with Minnesota.

When diving a little deeper, it gets easier to understand why the Vikings really decided to draft Hughes this year.

Nickel corner has actually been a sneaky, under-the-radar need for Minnesota over the past couple of seasons.

Captain Munnerlyn did decent in the role during his time with the Vikings from 2014 to 2016, but it was never anything to rave about. And last season Minnesota attempted to have Mackensie Alexander take over in the slot, but he ended up getting replaced by Terence Newman midway through the year.

Alexander is expected to begin the 2018 season as the Vikings’ nickel corner again. If Minnesota continues to be unsatisfied with his play on the inside this year, the team likely won’t be hesitant to replace him with Hughes.

So maybe the Vikings’ did fill a need on their roster last April with their first-round draft selection. And perhaps Hughes is the piece that the Minnesota defense needed to make the jump from an elite unit to a championship unit in 2018.