If there is one label that has persisted for Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer lo these many (mostly mediocre) seasons, it’s that he is a “cornerback whisperer/guru”.
He inherited first-round pick Xavier Rhodes when the Vikings top brass hired him in 2014, but drafted Trae Waynes in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft, Mackenzie Alexander in the second round of the 2016 Draft, Mike Hughes in the first round of the 2018 Draft, Jeff Gladney in the first round and Cameron Dantzler in the third round of the 2020 Draft.
That’s a total of four first round picks for a position that has two starters (more teams are doing a lot more nickel but I’m going to keep this descriptor as is as teams don’t spend first round picks on nickel corners) in the matter of eight seasons/Drafts.