Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman
We are very excited about our draft pick. It was funny as you sat there and watched the draft unfold, there wasn’t a lot of movement or a lot of trades. We did have a lot of activity that came up to us, but as you sit there and went through it, we had Trae Waynes very high on our draft board and some of the offers that we potentially had to trade down, we didn’t feel that the value was there. So, as much as you like to do some movement and things like that, when there is a player there that you covet, and figuring how far you can move down and potentially losing that player, it’s not always worth it just to make a trade to make a trade. When Trae fell to us, like I said, we listened to a couple of offers and the value wasn’t there in our opinion and we got a very good player. We spent a lot of time with Trae this offseason, we spent time with him at the combine, myself and Coach (Mike) Zimmer personally went to Michigan State to work him out and spent time with him there, he was here on our top 30 (visit). When you look at his physical traits, the length, the speed, the ability to play man coverage fits exactly what we are looking for in corners in this scheme. The most important thing, and I talked about it in my press conference earlier, was that you want to get players, offensively and defensively, that are going to have the chance to excel with what type of schemes that we run on both sides of the ball. We are very excited to get Trae and can’t wait to get him started.
Q: In looking at the NFC North, did you try to pair Trae Waynes with Xavier Rhodes?
A: Yeah, to get two young corners like that and you watch Chicago take the receiver from West Virginia, to knowing the receivers that we face in Green Bay and knowing the receivers we face in Detroit, to have to young corners that I know this staff has done a tremendous job of helping our young guys. To get another young player on that side of the ball, especially a player at a position that is in Coach Zimmer’s wheelhouse. We are going to have to play some good defense and we were able to really improve last year, and I think adding a player like a Trae Waynes will definitely upgrade our defense.
Q: Is the expectation for him to start right away?
A: You could ask Coach Zimmer that, I know we signed Terence Newman and we have Captain Munnerlyn, we have Josh Robinson, we have a lot of depth at corner right now. Corners take some time to develop, he is not going to be pushed into starting right away, that will be determined as we go through this offseason program, as we go through training camp, how quickly he comes along, but we also have the luxury with the depth that we have at the cornerback position and if he is ready, the coaches will determine when he is ready.
Q: From a skill set standpoint, what stood out to you about him over Marcus Peters, Kevin Johnson, some of the other top corners in this draft?
A: I felt they were all very talented, but I think when you add everything in that goes along with him, not only the player that you see on the field, but also the character, the work ethic, you talk to the coaches at Michigan State and the type of kids that come out of that program, not only are great character guys, but they are NFL ready players. We talked to Pat Narduzzi, who is now the head coach at Pitt and I know Coach (Mike) Priefer who is really close with him, just talked to him and told him not only what he does on the field, but looking into his work habits, how important a game is to him, does he play with passion, does he miss practice, and just going down and checking all of the boxes, Trae Waynes hit every box that we were looking for when we draft a Minnesota Viking Player.
Q: Did you think any team ahead of you would take him?
A: A couple of teams, but they you sit there and you study, you study other team’s needs, and what other teams have done in the offseason, who they’ve added in free agency, what potentially they are looking for that they weren’t able to add in free agency and as you started to look back at some teams behind us, how far could you move back and knowing that you are probably going to lose this guy. We just felt that we didn’t want to lose a player of this caliber. With as much as the emphasis is now in the NFL on being able to cover people and corners, and I think you are going to see a couple of more corners go before the day is out. The overall package with Trae Waynes was everything we were looking for.
Q: Could you talk about some of the things that you liked about Trae Waynes, and what he does well and some of the things you felt he needs to work on?
A: I think the biggest thing is, there is no question about the athletic skill set, there is no question about his ability to play press-man. We haven’t seen him a lot in off coverage because they play a lot of man-coverage and they play a lot pressed up to the line, so some of that may be a little new to him. I love going to workouts with Coach Zim, because he coaches the heck out of those kids in the workouts and he sees how they respond. So, there are some technical things that he’ll have to work on. Those are just little tweaks here and there on his feet or his shoulders, or down coming out of breaks. Just little technical things, all of the physical attributes are there to do it, it’s just cleaning that part up. I know Coach Zimmer, George Edwards, and Jerry Gray take great pride into getting those guys. Just the example of how far Xavier Rhodes came in a year, and how far he came from a technical standpoint. He is more than willing enough and tough enough in run support, but the biggest thing is the athletic traits are there to fit well in this scheme.
Q: Were you looking to get more knowing that Trae Waynes was a player that was
high on your board?
A: I just felt that with the value of the player, that it would have taken pretty good
compensation for us to do something.
Q: What was it about Trae Waynes that made you feel comfortable selecting him?
A: I think that when you sit through, especially with the players that our coaches bring in the top 30, our coaches spend an hour and a half with them. They watch tape and they teach them schemes. One of our big points of emphasis is that not only do they love to play the game of football; are they competitive and how smart they are? When we bring players in, especially in the top 30, that we have a strong interest in, not only in the first round but throughout the draft, that is one thing that I ask the coaches is, can he learn the system and do you feel comfortable enough that if we draft this guy, he’s going to be the fit that we’re looking for across the board. That includes the intelligence part, and there is no question about Trae Waynes and him fitting everything that we are looking for in a football player.
Q: Michigan State’s defense is unique. Do you see any challenges with evaluating him?
A: They are a very disciplined football team. It’s fun to watch them play as a unit, because of how sound and disciplined they are. I think that they do a great job at Michigan State on developing their guys and developing in their system. To me, it’s an advantage when you get a guy from Michigan State, especially in our situation, on a defensive side, that it’s going to be well coached coming out. Not that all of these kids coming out aren’t well coached, but at Michigan State, they do an exceptional job with their kids.
Q: Captain Munnerlyn struggled a little bit on the outside last season, how did that factor into the decision of bringing in a new corner?
A: If there was another position or something, we’re going to take the best available player.
That factors into it because we knew we wanted to add a cornerback at some point in the draft. Like I said, the board started to develop and when it came down to our pick, Trae Waynes was the best player available for us at the time. You’re not only filling a need, but you’re filling the best player available on the draft board.
