Who are the 10 best cornerbacks the Minnesota Vikings have ever added to their roster in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft?
The Minnesota Vikings find themselves in a precarious situation after parting ways with their top three cornerbacks from last season. The departure of Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, and Mackensie Alexander leaves a hole in the defense. This trio takes a combined 16 seasons of experience playing in 233 games for the Vikings, making 160 starts.
Head Coach Mike Zimmer needs to work his magic and demonstrate how good of a cornerback whisperer he actually is to replace two former first-round draft picks and a second-rounder. The Vikings currently have 11 cornerbacks on the roster—second only to the 12 wide receivers, another position in critical condition heading into the 2020 season.
The only players with any NFL-game experience are Holton Hill with four starts in 24 games, Mike Hughes with 20 games and five starts, and Kris Boyd who was active for all 16 games last season. That’s not a lot of experience for a team with postseason and Super Bowl aspirations.
The Vikings addressed their need at cornerback by selecting three of them in the draft, taking one in the first, third, and fifth rounds. According to Pro Football Reference, the Vikings have drafted 119 players designated as cornerbacks, defensive back, or safeties in 688 draft selections—that equates to 17.3 percent of their picks used on defensive backs.
In their history, the Vikings selected a defensive back 30 times in the first three rounds, including Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler drafted this year in the first and third respectively. Here is a look at the top 10 cornerbacks drafted by the Vikings in the first three rounds.
Making the jump from defending college receivers to the pros can be challenging, especially at one of the most difficult positions on the field. With the rules favoring receivers, the playing career of a cornerback can be very short in the NFL.
The criteria used to rank the list included seasons played, games and games started along with interceptions and touchdowns.