Minnesota Vikings: 5 Biggest questions for the 2020 season

1. How will the cornerback group rebound?

One position that will gain a lot of attention during the 2020 season and one of the biggest question marks on the Vikings defense comes at the cornerback position and how the depth chart will look both this year and beyond.

Throughout the offseason, the defensive back spot became one fo the biggest areas of need for Minnesota after having one of the top cornerback units in the NFL over the past few seasons. After parting ways with cornerbacks such as Pro Bowler Xavier Rhodes, Mackensie Alexander, Trae Waynes and others already this offseason, the cornerback position was spot the Vikings needed to focus on adding to heading into the 2020 campaign.

One player that will need to step up among the defense and specifically the cornerback group is third-year defensive back Mike Hughes, who will look to put together a healthy season as a starter for really the first time in his career.

Outside of Hughes, Minnesota did work in adding to the suddenly younger cornerback group throughout the offseason, most notably drafting TCU’s Jeff Gladney in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, while adding Mississippi State cornerback Cameron Dantzler in the third round of the draft.

With Hughes set to lead the way for the cornerback group and Gladney and Dantzler looking to come in right out of the gate to make an impact in the back end of the defense, the Vikings also have the likes of Kris Boyd, Holton Hill and others that could see more extensive playing time in a suddenly thin cornerback group that has been extremely deep since Mike Zimmer took over as head coach in Minnesota.

With a new wave of defensive backs set to try and take charge of the defense in 2020, the biggest question mark remaining is how that group will be able to step up and if they will be able to ultimately hold opposing offenses in check in both the passing and running games this year.