Minnesota Vikings: Re-doing team’s worst 2020 NFL Draft picks

Round 5, No. 169 Overall: Bradlee Anae, DE, Utah

Original Pick: Harrison Hand, CB, Temple

I’m all for the Vikings adding cornerback depth. It was an obvious need coming into the 2020 NFL Draft, and they did exactly that with the earlier selections of Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler. Reaching on Harrison Hand in the fifth round was not the way to go.

Instead, the Vikings should have kept searching for options off the edge. At this point, they had already drafted D.J. Wonnum in the fourth round, but you can never have too many quality defensive ends. Adding a player like Bradlee Anae would have provided better value than Hand.

So what’s wrong with Hand? Nothing too glaring, but there were better directions to go here in the fifth round. Hand doesn’t have ideal speed at the cornerback position, and struggles in man coverage. He isn’t the usual tough, physical cornerback that the Vikings and Mike Zimmer aim for, which made this pick all the more odd.

By drafting Anae, the Vikings could have had themselves a powerful, productive pass rusher whose motor never stops running. Especially after losing Everson Griffen and Stephen Weatherly this offseason, they could have used the experienced, high-character defensive end out of Utah.