5 potential Vikings 2020 NFL Draft targets to know
By Zack Patraw
Paulson Adebo – CB (Stanford)
The Vikings’ corner stability has apparently taken a hit this year. Xavier Rhodes isn’t playing at a Pro Bowl level, Trae Waynes is still tackling well but is a liability in coverage, and Mike Hughes and Mackensie Alexander have dealt with recent injuries.
It’s time for Minnesota to bring depth and stability back into this secondary and what better way to do that than drafting Paulson Adebo.
Adebo was a consensus four-star recruit from Mansfield, Texas. He was the nation’s 18th best corner and the ninth-best wide receiver during high school.
He didn’t see any action during his freshman year. But his sophomore season is when he took off. He started 12 of Stanford’s 13 games. He was number one in the nation with 24 passes defended, 20 were pass-breakups and four were interceptions. The four interceptions were the most on the team and third in the PAC-12. He was also third on the team with 64 tackles.
Adebo has many desirable traits as a corner. First off is his size. At 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, he’s a big, long corner and he plays like it too. He’s very physical and he matches up well against bigger receivers.
He’s a natural athlete as him playing both receiver and corner makes that extremely evident. He understands route concepts well and his ability to sit on them is really good. He reads when a receiver is going to make his break, which makes him very dangerous in zone coverage, though he plays man very well too.
He’s a tremendous tackler and his pursuit angles are very good. He’s a slasher type, so he’ll cause a lot of havoc around the line of scrimmage and use his large tackle radius to bring down ball carriers. He plays well with his head turned back to the ball to locate it or with his back to the quarterback playing the receiver.
Adebo would be a much-needed add at corner for the Vikings in 2020. His ability to play either man or zone would be a dream for Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer. Corner depth is key, and Vikings fans know how much Zimmer loves his corners.