Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah admitted that first-round pick Lewis Cine hasn’t lived up to his billing through his first two seasons — a sign of some potential regret considering the Vikings could have had Baltimore Ravens All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton.
Inheriting the 12th overall pick in the 2022 draft, the Vikings had many needs on defense, including at safety. Hamilton was the consensus No. 1 safety in that year’s draft class. However, the Vikings did not have a strong enough opinion on Hamilton to stick and pick at No. 12 overall, KSTP’s Darren Wolfson reported.
“They didn’t like him. I said it in the moment, I’ll reiterate it now: They didn’t have a healthy opinion for whatever reason,” Wolfson said on a January 11 episode of SKOR North’s “Mackey and Judd” podcast. ” I haven’t gone down the rabbit hole too much, but I just know on the surface, pre-draft, there was very little interest shown in Kyle Hamilton. The Kyle Hamilton camp just never got any sort of vibe that the Vikings were all-in on him or even half-in on him. He just wasn’t their guy.”
Instead of signing Hamilton, who earned All-Pro honors in just his second season as a cornerstone of the Ravens’ No. 1-ranked defense, the Vikings opted to trade back and take Cine 32nd overall — a move that produced two additional picks in the second round.
Coming off a lower leg fracture he suffered three weeks into his rookie season, Cine was a healthy scratch in 8 of 17 games and logged just eight defensive snaps this season — all in a blowout Week 16 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Meanwhile Hamilton, on a four-year, $16.2 million contract, has outplayed his $3.6 million cap hit this season. Over The Cap has valued his 2023 performance to be worth $13 million this season.
Adofo-Mensah used his top two picks to rebuild the Vikings’ defense, however, Cine nor second-rounder Andrew Booth Jr. have become consistent contributors to the defense so far.
The Vikings general manager defended the two young players, saying player development isn’t a linear process, but also conceded that the NFL is a results-driven business.
“Cine didn’t have a rookie year pretty much,” Adofo-Mensah said , per The Star Tribune. “He got the injury and now he comes to learn a new defense with Brian Flores, so I think that has to be considered. Then, Andrew Booth, same thing, learning from a new defense, adjusting to this style of play. We are continuing to believe in our people, pour into them with our player development resources – all the things we have in this building – but, as I said earlier, it is a results business at the end of the day, and we will see where we end up.”
Arriving in Minnesota in January 2022, Adofo-Mensah didn’t inherit an ideal situation to rebuild through the draft. the Vikings didn’t have a second-round pick and had only three selections inside the top 150. Through several trades, Adofo-Mensah ultimately turned those first three picks (No. 12, 46 and 77) into six selections — picks No. 32, 42, 59, 66, 165, and 169 — and four picks in the first two days.
Rd. 1, No. 32: S Lewis Cine
Rd. 2, No. 42: CB Andrew Booth Jr.
Rd. 2, No. 59: G Ed Ingram
Rd. 3, No. 66: LB Brian Asamoah
Rd. 4, No. 118: CB Akayleb Evans
Rd. 5, No. 165: DT Esezi Otomewo
Rd. 5, No. 169: RB Ty Chandler
While trading back and having more chances to land contributing role players is good in theory, it hasn’t materialized in the 2022 draft class so far. Ed Ingram is the only pick inside the top 100 who has developed into a capable starter, while Akayleb Evans and Ty Chandler have shown some promise but aren’t surefire starters for the final two years of their contracts.
Despite a poor first draft, which wasn’t afforded the same preparation considering the changing of regimes in January, Adofo-Mensah redeemed himself with his second draft.
Adofo-Mensah’s second rookie class is already looking much better with Jordan Addison, Mekhi Blackmon and Ivan Pace Jr. looking like steady contributors for the future.
Pro Football Focus has the Vikings’ No. 2 in wins above replacement (WAR) from rookies on a per snap basis — meaning the Vikings got the second-highest quality snaps out of their rookies that played — second only to the Houston Texans who rode C.J. Stroud and Tank Dell to their first playoff berth in four years.
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