Vikings select Georgia safety Lewis Cine with 1st round pick

The Minnesota Vikings selected Georgia safety Lewis Cine with the 32nd overall pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday night, ending a long night for Vikings fans after the team traded down from the 12th overall selection.

The Vikings were on the clock earlier in the evening when they made a deal with the Detroit Lions. Minnesota sent the 12th and 46th overall picks to Detroit in exchange for the 32nd, 34th, and 66th picks.

The Lions used the 12th overall selection on Alabama receiver Jameson Williams while the Vikings waited for their turn at the end of the first round to take Cine.

Cine was part of a Bulldogs defense that won the 2021 national championship. He'll slide in next to Harrison Smith and alongside Camryn Bynum on the back end of the Minnesota secondary.

The 22-year-old led Georgia with 73 tackles and nine pass break-ups in 2021. He was a third-team All-American and name the MVP of the national championship game.

He's 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds and ran the 40 in 4.37 seconds. His Relative Athletic Score (RAS) from the NFL Combine was the sixth-best in the past decade, scoring a 9.9 out of 10. 

His 40-yard dash and 10-yard split were both in the 99th percentile, while his 133-inch broad jump ranked in the 98th percentile.