Bengals Cornerback Trae Waynes Won't Play vs. Vikings, Eli Apple Will Start
One of the fun storylines of the Vikings' regular season opener against the Bengals is the 'revenge' angle, with players and coaches like Mike Zimmer, Riley Reiff, Trae Waynes, Mackensie Alexander, Nick Vigil, and Paul Guenther facing off against their former employer.
Unfortunately — or fortunately, depending on how you look at it — one piece of that story won't get a chance to face off against his old team. Bengals starting cornerback Trae Waynes won't play in the opener, coach Zac Taylor announced on Monday. He suffered a leg injury during training camp and his Bengals debut will be even further delayed. It's a frustrating development for Waynes, who missed all of last season with a pectoral injury after signing a three-year, $42 million contract in free agency.
Prior to 2020, Waynes had played in 74 of a possible 80 games with the Vikings in his first five seasons. The Michigan State product was a first-round pick, No. 11 overall, in 2015, and had a solid, durable run in Minnesota.
What this means is that veteran Eli Apple — another former first-rounder who missed basically all of last season — will step into the Bengals' starting lineup at outside cornerback. Apple and Chidobe Awuzie, a pair of offseason additions by Cincinnati, will be the two starters at corner against the Vikings' talented receiver duo of Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.
The advantage is heavily in favor of Minnesota in that matchup.
Awuzie had a solid start to his NFL career with the Cowboys, including a very good 2019 season when he played over 1,000 snaps. But he struggled last year after injuring his hamstring early in the season. Awuzie finished with a 52.0 PFF grade, and his lowest-graded performance came against the Vikings in Week 11. Thielen and Jefferson combined for two catches for 55 yards on three targets in his coverage.
Whichever of the Vikings' receivers is being covered by Apple will have an even better matchup. The 2016 first-round pick is on his fourth team in six seasons. He got off to a disappointing start to his career with the Giants, wasn't much better with the Saints, and played just 28 snaps for the Panthers last year. Apple got hurt early on and then was released in October. He's had a PFF coverage grade below 60 in three of his four full seasons.
The rest of the Bengals' remade cornerback room includes waiver pickup Nick McCloud and nickel corners Mike Hilton, Darius Phillips, and Jalen Davis. It's possible Cincinnati could have Hilton or Phillips take some reps on the outside, but either one would have a notable size disadvantage against Jefferson or Thielen. The Bengals' top three corners in snaps played from last season — William Jackson III, Mackensie Alexander, and LeShaun Sims — are no longer with the team.
The focus for Klint Kubiak and the Vikings will always be getting Dalvin Cook and the run game going. But with Waynes not playing on Sunday and the Bengals' outside corners looking beatable, perhaps there should be an added emphasis on airing the ball out to Jefferson and Thielen.
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