Biggest concerns for the top five Vikings rookies from the 2020 NFL Draft
By Nik Edlund
Top concern about Cameron Dantzler:
Speed
The Vikings took this big lanky corner in the third round of this year’s NFL Draft, Mississippi State’s Cameron Dantzler.
Dantzler is a 6-foot-2, 190-pound corner who has long, skinny limbs. He did extremely well in college when he was paired up against some of the best receivers in the SEC. Dantzler also is a willing tackler with decent ball skills, having picked off five passes in his career and knocking away 20 passes.
Dantzler was projected to go much higher in the draft, but he fell down the board after his showing at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine.
The reason he fell was that at the Combine he ran a very disappointing 4.64 40-yard dash. This made teams worry about his recovery speed and overall ability to stick with most receivers who come flying down the field.
The speed didn’t appear to be an issue when watching Dantzler on tape and it is something Mike Zimmer doesn’t sound too concerned about.
Dantzler is a physical corner and he’ll be pressing his man from the beginning of the route. If he can stay on him he’ll be fine. But if a receiver is able to create some separation and get behind Dantzler, that speed could end up being a big problem for this rookie.