Trae Waynes Discussion Thread

Trae Waynes might be the final key that unlocks the Minnesota Vikings defense.

With talent at all three levels of the field, the Vikings defense could sport Pro Bowlers at every major position group on the defense — cornerback Xavier Rhodes, defensive end Everson Griffen and safety Harrison Smith are leading their respective positions as vote-getters while Linval Joseph and Anthony Barr are well-known enough to earn a spot, especially as former Pro Bowlers.

But defenses are not always built on how bright their stars are, instead requiring the consistent performance of the role players around them. The 2010 Vikings sent four defenders to the Pro Bowl and strong cases could have been made for Chad Greenway and Jared Allen, both of whom made the Pro Bowl the following year. Not only that, Pat Williams was playing well despite ending the season at 38 years old.

With all that talent, they ranked 18th in points allowed. Weaknesses at safety — Madieu Williams and Husain Abdullah played at levels far below their peaks in Cincinnati and Kansas City, respectively — and one cornerback spot — Asher Allen — meant that all their pass-rushing and run-stopping prowess wasn’t worth much.

The 2017 Vikings defense could have been faced with similar problems. Question marks at safety, nickel corner and left cornerback were legitimate and though it appears that Andrew Sendejo has improved yet again at the position while the rotation of Terence Newman and Mackensie Alexander at the nickel position seems fundamentally sound, the biggest worry might have been the play of Trae Waynes.

With Xavier Rhodes shadowing the offense’s top receiver, Waynes has had to deal with the consistent threat of opposing #2s.

Sometimes that’s not particularly intimidating — the former Michigan State product ended up locking down Josh Bellamy in Chicago and virtually erased Rashard Higgins against Cleveland. At other times, it’s meant going up against Jordy Nelson, Desean Jackson or Martavis Bryant.

For much of the year, teams trusted that matchup more than they trusted their top receiver shadowed by Xavier Rhodes. In the first seven weeks of the season, Trae Waynes was the most targeted defender on the Vikings in pass coverage and the fifth-most targeted cornerback in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus.

The decision to target Waynes worked for offenses, too. He gave up the sixth-most yards per snap in pass coverage and gave up receptions more often in coverage than all but two cornerbacks. When targeted, he allowed a completion rate of 69.4 percent, 11th-worst in the league.

The offense always has the advantage of getting to pick who they attack, meaning that a weakness in the defense can make many of the other players irrelevant, and it seemed like offenses had determined that that weakness was Trae Waynes. Waynes was responsible for 28.9 percent of all the passing yards that the Vikings gave up in the first seven weeks of the season — that’s the third-worst rank in the NFL.

Much of this is a credit to the players surrounding Waynes. Having Xavier Rhodes on a team’s top receiver is equivalent to turning them from an 80-100 yard-a-game juggernaut to a 45-yard-a-game role player. Harrison Smith is the top safety in the league and the Vikings have generated solid coverage capability from their linebackers.

But Waynes himself hasn’t impressed when targeted — which is why he was among the league leaders in completion rate allowed and why opponents were so comfortable targeting his matchups than they were playing strength to strength and testing their top receivers against Xavier Rhodes.

Since Week 8, however, that’s changed pretty significantly.