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Vikings updated depth chart at safety after 2022 NFL draft

Jordy McElroy
·3 min read

The Minnesota Vikings went into the 2022 NFL draft determined to patch things up on the backend of their defense. Opposing quarterbacks were taking whatever they wanted through the air against a unit that allowed the fifth-most passing yards per game last season and using them as target practice.

Something needed to change.

Sure, the team needed help at the cornerback position, but there was a serious underestimation at safety due to Harrison Smith’s lack of visible decline.

I wouldn’t quite dub him the Benjamin Button of defensive playmakers, but he’s as close at it gets. But at 33 years old, he’s closer to the end than he is the beginning.

While I wouldn’t go writing Smith’s NFL obituary just yet, the Vikings desperately needed to find a future star that wouldn’t only replace him, but they needed someone to wreak havoc alongside him. Xavier Woods was one-and-done in Minnesota, and Owner/President Mark Wilf has been adamant about wanting to win now and compete for a championship.

If the Vikings want to win now, an injection of youth and talent at the safety position was absolutely needed.

Who got drafted?

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  • Lewis Cine

Not only did the Vikings address their safety problem, but they did so before taking a cornerback off the board. All of the mock drafts projecting Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, Derek Stingley Jr. and Trent McDuffie got doused with a cold dose of reality when the team selected a safety after trading down.

Oh, and McDuffie was still on the board at No. 12 for the Vikings to grab him if they wanted.

But the team had a specific position and player in mind when heading into the draft. The pick at No. 32 was former Georgia safety Lewis Cine, a hard-hitting defensive back that delivers the sort of bone-crunching hits you can feel through a television screen.

Cine has competed against the best skilled position players in the SEC, along with helping to lead the Bulldogs to a national championship victory over Alabama and earning a defensive MVP in the process. Adofo-Mensah has preserved the present, while also securing the future by snagging him at the end of the first round.

Projections at the position

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Cine being drafted to Minnesota is a tough break for Camryn Bynum, who expected to take the next step as an NFL starter. The second-year defensive back recently talked about wanting to be the best player to ever do it on both sides of the ball, but that’s clearly going to be difficult to do if he can’t get on the field consistently.

Smith might be an aging safety, but he’s still playing at an elite level after nabbing his sixth Pro Bowl nod in 2021. And the Vikings didn’t draft Cine in the first round just to watch him sit behind Bynum.

That isn’t to say the team is going to leave Bynum completely out in the cold. They’ll get him on the field in packages, and there might even be nickel corner possibilities. But if Smith’s still the man behind the wheel at safety, then Cine will be the one riding shotgun. Snaps could be just as hard to come by for Bynum as they were last season.

Depth chart resetting

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