Clearing up misconceptions about Mike Hughes and the 2018 Vikings draft

[purplefaithful]

From pretty early in training camp, it was clear that Mike Hughes had special talent.
Normally Mike Zimmer is cautious about over-praising young corners, but in mid-August, the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach raved about how quickly the team’s first-round pick was coming along as a nickel corner. In Hughes’ first preseason performance, he wasted no time getting his feet wet, blowing up a run play and allowing zero catches into his coverage.
So when the former University of Central Florida standout made one of the biggest plays in Sunday’s opener against the San Francisco 49ers, picking off a Jimmy Garoppolo pass and running it back for a touchdown, nobody was stunned.
Hughes was a tremendous prospect coming out of college. ESPN’s Mel Kiper ranked him as the 19th best player in the draft. Following the Vikings’ selection of Hughes, Pro Football Focus noted the incredible numbers he’d posted with UCF.
PFF wrote:

There were few more talented corners in this draft than Hughes, who allowed a passer rating of just 40.7 over his college career when targeted. He surrendered just one touchdown an wasn’t beaten for a pass longer than 21 yards in his entire 2017 season. 

There has never been a doubt that the Vikings added a Year 1 contributor and potential star when they selected Hughes with the 30th overall pick.
Yet there appears to be a perception that the decision to draft him was widely criticized.
Following Sunday’s win, Zimmer quipped: “That’s why we drafted him. Everybody was complaining about taking that corner, I’m glad we had him today.”
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/0...ngs-draft/

[Guest]

i didnt hear... how did Hernandez do in NY?

[Guest]

I liked what precious little tape I saw of Hughes.
I thought he had some nice traits, but it was a hard projection to make.
Obviously, some other teams felt the same.
OL was the prize for many teams in The First and Hughes dropped.
I predicted this scenario exactly, but I was just sure the pick was gonna be Justin Reid.

[Guest]

The problem for me is allocation of resources. CB depth was a need, but you could get good CB prospects well into the 3rd round. Where as there were many teams that needed OL help, so the top quality OL were gone by the mid 2nd round. Hughes seems to be working out so far, but we reached in the 2nd for a developmental OL in O'Neill, when OL was a critical need. It is very strange to invest so heavily in skill players and then hold them back with poor line play. Things are even worse now that Easton & Collins are out for the season. It's also frustrating to watch good OL fall off the board and have the team do nothing, when they are more than happy to spend multiple picks on a kicker again.

Hopefully, Hughes continues to play well and works out, but it is frustrating to have Zimmer keep stockpiling corners when there are critical needs that are being ignored. In the past few seasons we've spent two 1st rounders and a 2nd rounders on CB. A coach like Zimmer should be able to develop mid round DBs into good players, so just spamming CB with high picks is a bit frustrating.

[Guest]

I believe that once Hughes gets to play INSIDE the full game, you will see him shine or better yet wont hear anything from him or the slot WR at all. 

looking at his skill set, he will be a far better CB on the inside than out. Very quick small steps, fluid hips and physical.  thats the recipe for a shut down slot CB. 

If you have a premier outside CB who negates their best WR, and a blanket on the slot, that truly means you have to have a great running game or TE to control this defense.  

I expect, with Tres back, a much better performance this week on D. Maybe not regarding turnover creation, but elimination of mistakes. Mistakes that let SF hang around in the game

[Guest]

Hughes did exactly what you want from a first rounder, and more.  Not only was he a starter and big contributer to the win in game one, but then he change positions mid-game.  Hughes is fantastic addition to this team, and it proves you can't ever have too many good CBs.  I think Zim know that better than anyone.

[Guest]

I thought Alexander was shaky last year, so they drafted Hughes .

[Guest]

Is Waynes OK and going to play Sunday?

[Guest]

I didn’t and still don’t think it was about drafting a corner. I know they caught some heat for it but Hughes was the best player available at the time by a decent margin. In my opinion he actually dropped to us. So I see a case of can’t pass up the opportunity to get a potential all pro at a very difficult position to fill and vital to today’s NFL team success.

[Guest]

@JimmyinSD said:
i didnt hear... how did Hernandez do in NY?

Jimmy, I know I'm a little late on this response but Chris Simms on Pro Football Talk this morning had a feature on Hernandez and Nate Soldier against the Jags and how much they struggled against their pass rush. Not hard to believe when facing Campbell who can be unblockable at times so I guess the report card would be incomplete so far.