5 best Vikings first-round picks of the Rick Spielman era

Trae Waynes (2015)

Since drafting Rhodes in 2013, Spielman missed on a couple of defensive backs in 2014 but hit with his 11th overall pick in 2015 as he drafted Trae Waynes out of Michigan State.

Waynes was another corner that Vikings fans desperately wanted to see succeed year one considering he was such a high pick. Unfortunately, he struggled his rookie year which left a bad taste.

He stepped up in large by registering 11 passes defended and three interceptions the next year, which are both career highs to this day. He was widely criticized for his tackling during his first year. He corrected that quickly and put up a career-high 65 combined tackles his third year in the league.

There were a lot of talks about the Vikings trading Waynes during the draft and this entire off-season, but it says a lot that he is still on the Vikings as they look to keep that secondary locked down.