Lewis

Cine

Cine was a camp cut by the Vikings earlier this week and now finds a home in Buffalo. The former first-round pick suffered a compound fracture in 2022, which ended his rookie season after Week 4. He played in just seven games last season and has one career tackle to his name. Cine is in career-rebuilding mode after an unfortunate start in Minnesota. If he can flash the talent that made him a first-rounder just three years ago, it’s possible he could earn his way onto the Bills’ 53-man roster.

The article also noted that Cine “appeared to be no better than the sixth safety on the [Vikings’] roster.” Cine was drafted by the Vikings with the No. 32 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft but has played in just 10 games since entering the league. The former Georgia safety suffered a compound fracture to his left leg in Week 4 of his rookie season and has yet to make a start as a pro. Cine has just one career tackle to his name and has played on only 10 career defensive snaps. Between his limited usage over two seasons and the latest rumors out of camp, it sounds like Cine is a legitimate risk of being left off of the 53-man roster despite the former first-rounder being just two years into his career.

Jackson’s absence will create additional snaps for Jalen Nailor after Justin Jefferson was not activated from injured reserve ahead of Week 11. Nailor played a whopping 92 percent snap rate in Week 10 without both Jefferson and Osborn, the latter of whom will be active in Week 10.

The most prominent name the Vikings are missing this week is WR Justin Jefferson, who was put on injured reserve. The Minnesota offense will try and manage without him against a subpar Bears defense. The Vikings’ official inactives list includes a couple of defensive players and rookies as the rest of the team enters Week 6 relatively healthy.

The 1-3 Vikings are approaching dire straits, as a loss to the 3-1 Chiefs would send them three games behind the division-leading Lions. That said, it should be all hands on deck at home in Minnesota. Nick Mullens will serve as the emergency quarterback.

Cine will reportedly remain in London with a member of the Vikings medical staff until he’s able to return home. According to Pelissero, Cine has already undergone a preparatory procedure ahead of his surgery, which is scheduled for Tuesday. Cine faces a long road to recovery and will likely be placed on season-ending IR.

Cine went down while blocking on a punt return for the Vikings. He appeared to suffer a serious leg injury during the play. The cart was ultimately brought out and he was put in an air cast before being taken from the field. The first-round rookie has primarily played on special teams so far, but his loss will also hurt Minnesota’s depth in their secondary.

Minnesota’s first-round selection picked up a knee injury in practice and was downgraded to DNP status on Friday. Cine was a play-maker at Georgia and blazed at the combine, running a 4.37 40 (99th percentile). He was competing for a starting gig in camp, but we will have to wait to see his early-season role for at least another week.

As is the case with all first-rounders, Cine’s deal is fully guaranteed and comes with a fifth-year team option. Cine will slide right in next to Harrison Smith to form Minnesota’s talented safety duo.

The world got a memorable introduction to Cine (6’2/199) back in 2020 when he delivered one of the hardest hits you will ever see to Kyle Pitts, earning a penalty and leaving both players incapacitated for quite a while. That play is perfectly illustrative of Cine’s devil-may-care play style. He triggers hard when he sees an opportunity to make an impact. A three-year contributor, it all came together for Cine in 2021, earning third-team All-American status while being named MVP of the championship game. He amassed 73 tackles, 10 PBUs, two TFLs, and one interception while drawing a sterling 89.8 PFF defensive grade and 89.2 coverage grade last season, posting an elite 6.9 percent missed tackle rate in the process. Cine did what he needed to in pre-draft testing by running a blazing 4.37 40 (99th percentile) with similarly gaudy 10- and 20-yard splits. His 10-foot-11 broad jump was also a 98th-percentile number. Cine posted an overall relative athletic score of 9.92, which is the eighth-best athletic profile out of 846 safeties tested since 1987. He has an aggressive safety mentality but can slide up to play press in the slot when called upon. He reads and reacts quickly with ferocity in run support and is at his best going forward in underneath coverage or filling run lanes.