The NFL Draft remains the second-biggest event in the NFL calendar behind the Super Bowl. Like it or not, it also remains one of the biggest things that fans and media enjoy going back and analyzing to see “what could have been.”
Pro Football Focus has done a good job this offseason by starting a re-draft series that we have been tracking here on Vikings Wire. In their latest draft, they looked back on it, and it just so happens to be one of the more impactful ones in recent memory for the Minnesota Vikings franchise: The 2018 NFL Draft.
The team drafted cornerback Mike Hughes in 2018, and while they stick with the position, they get a different player in Carlton Davis. The former Buccaneers and Lions cornerback has been around the league, but he has made plays every step of the way.
Trevor Sikkema writes, “The Vikings needed some cornerback depth, and starters Trae Waynes and Xavier Rhodes were both gone in two years following the 2018 NFL Draft. Davis has endured his ups and downs but has posted a single-season PFF coverage grade above 70.0 in three of his seven campaigns, with some elite single-game figures.”
Davis would have provided a fun and versatile piece to Mike Zimmer’s defense that would have helped out Harrison Smith in the secondary. However, just like every other re-draft, hindsight is 20-20.