Vikings Rumors: Possible reason revealed for Lewis Cine's massive struggles

Despite the Minnesota Vikings selecting him in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, we haven't seen much of safety Lewis Cine during the last two seasons.

For Lewis Cine, his first two years with the Minnesota Vikings have been quite the mystery.

Cine's rookie season with the Vikings in 2022 was cut short after he suffered a gruesome leg injury in the team's Week 4 win over the New Orleans Saints. And then, in 2023, he was on the field with Minnesota's defense for a grand total of eight snaps.

No one has really known why we haven't seen much of the young safety ever since the Vikings selected him in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. However, a former Minnesota player might have recently revealed a possible explanation.

Former Minnesota Vikings player suggests Lewis Cine has struggled learning the team's playbook

During a recent interview on the VikesNow YouTube channel, former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber had the following to say about why Cine might be struggling so much to get on the field with Minnesota's defense.

"There's little bits of smoke. There's little bits of information. Now, it could be misinformation, disinformation, I don't know. But we keep hearing that Lewis Cine can't pick up the playbook."

In addition to being a former player for the Vikings, Leber is also a sideline analyst for the team during their radio broadcasts of each game during the season. So, he probably wouldn't even suggest what he said about Cine without hearing it multiple times from people who have a good idea of what has taken place with the young safety during the last two years.

If it's true that Cine has struggled to learn Minnesota's defense playbook since his arrival in 2022, it's unfortunate.

The Vikings used a first-round pick on him because they felt he could make a significant impact on the defensive side of the ball, at least by his second season in the NFL.

Whether they want to or not, Minnesota might be forced into using Cine more next season if Harrison Smith decides to retire this year.

Helping make up for the loss of Smith could be Cine's final chance to become an actual factor on defense for the Vikings, and if he continues to struggle, then his time with the franchise is going to come to an end sooner rather than later.