Biggest surprise Viking

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dead_poet
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Biggest surprise Viking

Post by dead_poet »

Credit where credit is due. I've been critical of Waynes throughout his career (because he's earned that criticism for the penalties and completions allowed in his coverage) but his second half of the season something "clicked." I no longer view him as a coverage liability and his support in run defense is well above league average for a corner. I hope he continues to improve along with Alexander. If so, the Vikings will have an incredibly strong trio for the future.

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J. Kapp 11
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Re: Biggest surprise Viking

Post by J. Kapp 11 »

I'm glad to see him flourishing.

My view of Waynes has been different. Yes, he's been slow to turn into the type of corner that warrants such a high draft pick, but I've always felt he'd get there. The hardest thing to do with a young player, especially one who was drafted so high, is to look past the results. That sounds ridiculous on the surface, but it's not. It's looking at a guy and seeing if he has the goods to grow into being a player. With Waynes, there was never a doubt for me.

When I went up to US Bank in November of 2016, Waynes was pressed into extensive action against the Cardinals. If you guys recall, Newman was still the primary starter at outside corner, but because of injury Waynes played most of the game. When we go to games, we get the season tickets of someone who works for my wife but can't attend all the games. It's in the end zone right at the concourse -- a perfect "all-22" view. You can really watch plays develop, and you can focus on individual players.

What I remember seeing in Waynes was somebody who had this unique ability to mirror his man. It was uncanny. Reminded me of that guy you run into at the YMCA playing basketball. You know, the one who doesn't look all that impressive, but no matter what you do, you can't shake him to get open for a shot, or even a pass. The one you get frustrated and go, "Who IS this guy?" That was Waynes. To my eyes, he was even better at blanketing a receiver than Rhodes.

The problem was that he couldn't finish plays. He'd be right with his man, and his man would still catch the pass. Waynes would react to the ball too late.

What gave me hope was seeing THAT kind of physical ability, knowing that he was being coached by Mike Zimmer. If anybody could teach Waynes how to actually deny the receiver the ball, it was Zimmer.

Now we're seeing Waynes play the ball like a master. He's really come a long way. There are no easy catches with this man. He's tough to deal with. The fact that he's perhaps the best tackling corner in the NFL doesn't hurt, either.

What's fun is that the media still sees Trae Waynes as this liability you can pick on. Good luck with that.
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dead_poet
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Re: Biggest surprise Viking

Post by dead_poet »

J. Kapp 11 wrote:What's fun is that the media still sees Trae Waynes as this liability you can pick on. Good luck with that.
Do they? I haven't seen a negative Waynes piece in awhile. For good reason.
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Maelstrom88
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Re: Biggest surprise Viking

Post by Maelstrom88 »

Thought he was an excellent draft pick. Hopefully the Vikings can lock him up and have two shutdown corners for a long time.
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Re: Biggest surprise Viking

Post by PurpleMustReign »

I'll also say Sendejo. He continues to improve, and when he isn't playing, out defense has a different feel. He still goes into missile mode sometimes, but he really is a good all around player.


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dead_poet
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Re: Biggest surprise Viking

Post by dead_poet »

PurpleMustReign wrote:I'll also say Sendejo. He continues to improve, and when he isn't playing, out defense has a different feel. He still goes into missile mode sometimes, but he really is a good all around player.


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Definitely honorable mention.
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Re: Biggest surprise Viking

Post by mike2mike »

I will agree. One of the things the Vikings do is dare teams to beat them deep, particularly on third and medium. There was a time when that would hurt Wayne's. Waynes had troubles early on being too physical and drawing flags. Some of that was just stuff that wouldn't always be called and I think he may have backed off of being physical a little too much. The Vikings also this year asked Waynes to try to wait longer before turning his haps because he had the recovery speed to catch up potentially make turnovers and also Vikings want to shut stuff down underneath for as long as possible. They don't want him turning his hips right as WRs are about to real off a route.

In fact, when Newman first joined this team and played left corner which was always Rhodes spot, there was a time when Rhodes took some time to develop on the right side of the field and people were starting to doubt before Rhodes became the most improved player that year via PFF ratings.

Waynes development has been great and he deserves credit but it also goes to show you can't totally just look at the prospect and assume it's all about the scouts and general management and whether they got the draft pick right or not. Zimmer and his coaching staff and Waynes working hard plus Speilman trusting Zimmer all contribute to the development and recent success of Trae Waynes.
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Re: Biggest surprise Viking

Post by 720pete »

There are so many this season - Waynes, Thielen, Elflein, Keenum, Sendejo, Cook....
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Re: Biggest surprise Viking

Post by PurpleMustReign »

Ha, forgot about Keenum. He's probably #1, with Waynes a very close #2.

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Re: Biggest surprise Viking

Post by PurpleKoolaid »

Case, Sendejo, Waynes. All 3 have done much better this season then I thought they could.
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