2022 NFL Draft: Grading Vikings’ No. 32 pick of Lewis Cine
Lewis Cine of Georgia was the fifth Bulldog to go in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft and here’s the grade for the Vikings selection.
It was a historic night for the Georgia Bulldogs as they became the first college football team to ever have five defenders selected in the first round of the NFL draft.
Two of those went to the Green Bay Packers. The last one, he went to the Packers’ rival as the Minnesota Vikings traded back and still landed one of the best defenders in the draft in safety Lewis Cine, who was the Defensive MVP of the College Football National Championship.
Like many of his Georgia teammates, Lewis Cine is an athletic freak. He’s listed at 6-foot-2,199 pounds and he ran a 4.37 40 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine.
Here’s our grade of the Vikings’ selection with the No. 32 pick.
The grade for Lewis Cine at No. 32 overall: A
The draft is all about the eye of the beholder. Not every player picked is going to be a successful one but you have to like what the Vikings did for multiple reasons.
For one, they got good value as they moved down the board in a trade with Detroit that landed Minnesota the 32nd pick, as well as No. 34 and a third-rounder in the future.
The Vikings had their eye on the top two cornerbacks and receiver clearly wasn’t something they were interested in addressing early, so trading back makes sense.
Some might say they could have just drafted Kyle Hamilton and that’s a fair point. We shall see if that would have been better than taking Lewis Cine from Georgia, plus adding two extra picks, including the 34th which will yield a promising player — maybe even Malik Willis (we all know the Vikings need a young QB) or potentially a wide receiver? Maybe it will be an edge rusher?
The point is that it will be a premium pick and Cine should still be a good player, especially as more of an in-the-box safety.
Cine only intercepted two passes in his career but had 14 pass breakups and is a great tackler. Harrison Smith has been the heart and soul of the Vikings defense for years, but in Lewis Cine, Minnesota has landed what could be his eventual replacement.
Grade: A