Like many rookie cornerbacks, Vikings first-round pick Trae Waynes had a rough time out of the gate in his first preseason appearances.
That led to a lot of negative instant feedback from outside the team, but defensive coordinator George Edwards stressed patience over immediate impact and said that Waynes was “right on course” to being the player that they wanted him to be. The timeline seems to have sped up a bit in Minnesota because Edwards said Thursday that the team had its sights on Waynes assuming a starting role for the first week of the regular season.
“That’s what we’re aiming for,” Edwards said, via ESPN.com. “That’s what we’re all working for. But we’re just going to take it from week to week. We’ve still got two more [preseason] games to go, and we’ll just keep evaluating him through the process.”
Waynes has been seeing time as an outside cornerback across from Xavier Rhodes with Terence Newman kicking into the slot when the Vikings use three corners and that may be the starting role that Edwards has in mind for the rookie in the early part of the season. Given how frequently teams use such alignments, that would still a lot of playing time for a player that Edwards says has “gotten better from week to week.”
Veteran Captain Munnerlyn would likely handle third corner duties if the Vikings decide Waynes isn’t ready for the job.