EAGAN, Minn. — As the weeks passed and the calendar flipped from July to August, it seemed inevitable. Lewis Cine, the first draft pick selected by the current Minnesota Vikings regime, was destined to be released.
Even Cine’s disposition hinted at what was to come. After some practices this summer, he’d head straight for the Jugs machine by himself. An ancillary staffer would funnel a football into the machine. The ball popped against Cine’s gloves. Most of his teammates walked past him, heading back into the facility. But there Cine remained, seemingly trying to make up for lost time.
The Vikings waived him Tuesday, extinguishing any remaining flicker of hope that he’d make the 53-man roster. Mind you, he wasn’t the only member of the Vikings’ 2022 draft class to reach the end of the road this preseason. Andrew Booth Jr. was traded several weeks ago to the Dallas Cowboys. Two disappointing outcomes, both expected and now final.
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Over the years, neither general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah nor head coach Kevin O’Connell had elaborated on the arcs of either player: why they struggled and how they ended up here. Closure provided a platform on Thursday, and both used their time with reporters to reflect on the processes that led to this result.
“I’ve thought a lot about those days,” Adofo-Mensah said, referring to the first couple of months of his tenure in Minnesota.
GM Kwesi Adolfo-Mensah speaks on the roster and building a championship team pic.twitter.com/PJkFLhHUjg
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) August 29, 2024
His reflections conjured up a conversation from about a year ago. One afternoon, in his office on the second floor of the TCO Performance Center, Adofo-Mensah posed a question to O’Connell: “What was it like when we were down 33-0?”
Adofo-Mensah was asking about the thoughts swirling in O’Connell’s mind at halftime of the game against the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. The game in which the Vikings were down 33-0 at the half but came back to win 39-36 in overtime. He was asking because he saw it as a similar feeling of desperation that spurred the Vikings to some of the choices they made earlier that year in the draft.
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When Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell were hired, they were tasked with piecing together a complex puzzle. How do you meld an aging roster, limited salary-cap space and limited draft picks into a team that can win now and in the future? And how do you do that as a first-year general manager implementing decision-making processes for the first time, paired with a first-year head coach focused on making his own systematic and cultural imprint?
This was a challenge, to be clear, but the NFL is not a grace-giving entity. Results shape the narrative, not the other way around, especially in a town that has sought a Super Bowl for as long as this one has.
Adofo-Mensah understood this and he took a non-traditional swing, dropping 20 spots and picking up an additional pick from the NFC North-rival Detroit Lions. More bullets to fire meant more chances to fortify the depth and youth. At the time, he was dinged for his unorthodox strategy, but the players he took in the first two rounds — Cine, Booth and right guard Ed Ingram — were at least solid (if uninspiring) selections.
Dane Brugler, The Athletic’s draft expert, ranked Cine as his third-best safety, Booth as his fourth-best cornerback and Ingram as his ninth-best guard. Here’s how he summarized each player in the 2022 edition of “The Beast”:
Cine: “Lacks ideal size by NFL standards and has marginal ball skills, but he is an enforcer versus the run with the athleticism in coverage to make plays. He is an ascending talent with NFL starting skills, similar to Xavier McKinney as a prospect.”
Booth: “His tape has some volatility and he must mature his feel for spacing, but he has fluid athleticism, finds the football and disrupts the catch point, three important ingredients to playing the position at a high level. He has NFL starting traits (if he stays healthy) and projects best in a man-heavy scheme.”
Ingram: “Needs to clean up his leaning and hand mechanics, but he has the explosive upper body, strong base and competitive temperament to match up with defensive interior linemen at the next level. He is scheme-versatile and looks like a future NFL starter.”
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Rehashing his decisions Thursday, Adofo-Mensah did not specifically discuss any of these players’ faults. He did, though, invoke the conversation about the 33-0 comeback and say: “I might have been guilty of trying to have a 33-point play all at once.”
To analogize, he may have approached the complex puzzle as one gigantic hurdle rather than a bunch of smaller, individual hurdles that could be combined to raise the talent level on the roster.
O’Connell also refrained from speaking about Cine’s lack of development. He was asked multiple times how that draft cycle shaped the current state of the Vikings. The most interesting revelation surfaced when he opined on drafts as a whole. Trading down? He’s not opposed to it. Trading up? Not a problem, either. He emphasized one word: evaluation.
“If you identify players in certain spots who are impactful players, regardless of where you’re going to get them, you go get those players,” O’Connell said. “As long as the process of the evaluation is right, I do believe in that approach.”
The Vikings’ evaluation process, to use O’Connell’s phrasing, has evolved since 2022. O’Connell is heavily involved, exemplified by the team’s quarterback evaluations this spring. Unlike former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, who was installing the Vic Fangio-style defense for the first time, current defensive coordinator Brian Flores knows his own system and is keenly aware of the qualities needed at each position.
Does that mean the Vikings now operate perfectly? Of course not. Drafting players involves a cesspool of uncertainty, overconfidence and unpredictability. Evident, at the very least, is the public admission that the process could have probably been more sound. That’s comforting, but in this industry, it’s never as important as the end result.
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(Photo: Matt Krohn / USA Today)
