Waynes Out, Time For Hughes To Step Up?

I've carried Waynes' water for a while now and defended him when other folks said "he sucks".  He doesn't suck; actually he's pretty good.  BUT... the guy can't be counted on to play (or, at least play with pain).  Maybe this year is worse because it's a contract year.  Maybe he's soft because he came from such a solid family (compared to the guys that came out of "rough neighborhoods").  Regardless, if the kid can't stay on the field, there's no point in trying to keep him around.  Better to trade him for something (a #2 maybe) and get Hughes in there.  Sucks to think that way, though, because I think we COULD have had one of the better CB duos.

Yall do know that he is in the concussion protocol right?  This isn't a pain thing or something he is even allowed to play through.  The decision isn't his.  Yes he's been a little soft in the past at times,  but this incident is different and in light of what just went down with Griff.... I am betting the Vikings trainers aren't taking any chances with noodle injuries for a while.

Yah, can't ding Trae for concussion protocol. 

Back to the op title, I can only hope Hughes holds his own a majority of the time. Just cant teach experience. Rook CB starting on the road @ Philly is a tall order. They'll go right after the weakest link.  

@"purplefaithful" said: Yah, can't ding Trae for concussion protocol. 

Back to the op title, I can only hope Hughes holds his own a majority of the time. Just cant teach experience. Rook CB starting on the road @ Philly is a tall order. They'll go right after the weakest link.  

Which has pretty much been the whole defense, especially since Griff's been out.

Holton Hill has also gotten enough playing time that things could start clicking for him. He's getting a lot of opportunities to make a play out there. He seems to have earned a bit of respect from Zimmer and he's probably a big play away from raising a lot of eyebrows.

Cook out, also.

@"StickyBun" said: Cook out, also.

Good. I'm convinced that if we'd held Cook out last week, he'd be fully healthy and starting right now. 

@"StickyBun" said: Cook out, also.

Where are you seeing that reported? Inactives are not listed yet. 

@"StickyBun" said: Cook out, also.

Damn it, I sure wish he could stay on the field.  He's a great player, but man, he's always hurt.

This could vindicate Zimmer's choice for Hughes. I said at the time that if we lose one CB, we'll need Hughes to our defense.

Hopefully that proves true so this wonderful defense doesn't skip a beat!

Im adding to my Barr at DE fantasy. Holt Hill with a pick today!

on a slightly less fantastical take, Do we feature big nickel with Iloka today?

@"TBro" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Cook out, also.

Where are you seeing that reported? Inactives are not listed yet. 

Hughes is impressive.  Plays like a veteran.  Zim knows talent when he sees it.

Kearse got lots of snaps...looked good from my pov... 

@"BarrNone55" said: Kearse got lots of snaps...looked good from my pov... 

He's been our most reliable nickel corner/safety this year. It seemed like they were rotating in Kearse and Iloka a lot today, which was a nice adjustment.

I thought that Hughes was up and down today. He's generally getting to the right spot and trying to challenge, but he's not quite making those plays yet. To be fair, I thought that Rhodes and Smith were up and down too today.

I just wish our DB's and LB'swould get their ball tracking skills back. Hughes had a couple of plays where he was absolutely in the perfect position to defend, he just couldn't pick up the ball in the air to contest. The touchdown to Smallwood was a great pass, but Hendricks looked like Barr the week before trying to cover Gurley. Never turned around the track the ball.  

Hughes looked good for the most part. Considering he is a rookie, he looked great. And there is no doubt that Waynes has not performed well this year. But Waynes will be fine when he returns. The guy that Hughes needs to replace is Alexander, not Waynes!

@"TBro" said: I just wish our DB's and LB'swould get their ball tracking skills back. Hughes had a couple of plays where he was absolutely in the perfect position to defend, he just couldn't pick up the ball in the air to contest. The touchdown to Smallwood was a great pass, but Hendricks looked like Barr the week before trying to cover Gurley. Never turned around the track the ball.  

Ball tracking skills does seem to an area where we struggle. You would think it would be something that Zimmer could identify or teach, but we seem to have corners like Waynes and Hughes who are capable of tight coverage, but fail to make plays on the ball. Hughes is still young, but Waynes has been in the league for a few years now and he still struggles to make plays on the ball. I'm not saying it's an easy thing to do, but it's frustrating to watch a guy do so many things right only to take himself out of the play at the end.

We've seen similar struggles with the LBers. Before this season, I'd say that Barr was decent at coverage and Kendricks was good. Both have struggled. Some of it seems to be teams are attacking them differently, think the fly routes run by Gurley and Smallwood attacking the LBers vertically, where they may be better at defending passes in front of them. However, Kendricks stayed with Smallwood and like our corners could not make a play on the ball. Teams have also been attacking how players hand off coverage and are doing lots of motion and shifts at the line to try and isolate LBers in single coverage. Presumably it's teams spreading the field more, but at times it feels like the Vikings don't have enough DBs back in coverage. I think that is where the big nickel package helps. Players like Kearse and Iloka split the difference between a safety and linebacker and make it harder for teams to shift into favorable matchups.

I saw Jalyn Holmes got some snaps at DT. Had an assist and a solo tackle.