3 players the Vikings could have drafted instead of Lewis Cine in 2022
By Ben Donahue
Player No. 2
Jalen Pitre - S
Instead of Cine, the Vikings could have taken Jalen Pitre with the 30th pick. Pitre was a consensus All-American in 2021 as a safety for the Baylor Bears. He was a member of Baylor's football team for five years, which included a redshirt season in 2019.
During his breakout 2021 season, Pitre played in 14 games and tallied 56 solo tackles, 3.5 sacks, and two interceptions.
Along with his All-American designation, Pitre was selected as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and was a finalist for the Thorpe Award. He was then selected by the Houston Texans with the 37th overall pick in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
In his rookie year, Pitre became a starter right away and led the Texans' defense with 147 combined tackles, 99 solo stops, and five interceptions.
Already a team captain for Houston, Pitre could have been paired with Harrison Smith in the Minnesota secondary, creating a scary one-two punch at the position for the Vikings.