Minnesota Vikings: 3 Players who need to step up in 2020

1. Mike Hughes

One of the biggest question marks going into the 2020 NFL season for the Minnesota Vikings lies within the cornerback position and who is going to step up and fill that hole in the back end of Minnesota’s defense.

This offseason, the Vikings have experienced a decent amount of turnover at the cornerback position, with departures including the likes of Pro Bowler Xavier Rhodes, Mackenzie Alexander, Trae Waynes and others.

That means this season, one player that will have to step into that starting role and take over the reins in the back of the Minnesota defense is third-year cornerback Mike Hughes.

Hughes has struggled to remain on the field for the Vikings so far in his career since he broke into the NFL in 2018 when he was drafted in the first round of the draft by Minnesota. In his rookie season in 2018, he appeared in just six games, while playing in a total of 14 games in 2019, dealing with some injury concerns in both of those years.

In 2020, however, Minnesota is going to rely heavily on Hughes to take over at cornerback and become the top defensive back alongside rookie cornerbacks Jeff Gladney, Cameron Dantzler and others at the position.

A season ago, Hughes did play in 14 games but only started in three of those games while serving as a backup to Rhodes, Alexander, Waynes and company in Minnesota. During the 2019 campaign, Hughes finished with one interception, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and a career-best 45 tackles.

With question marks surrounding how the Vikings will look at cornerback in 2020, Hughes is a player that will emerge as the top player at the depth chart within the position and will need to stay healthy and step up for Minnesota this year.