Lewis Cine Recognizes 2024 as His Last Opportunity
From struggling to pick up the playbook to a catastrophic leg injury in London in 2022, it’s no secret that the first two seasons of Lewis Cine’s career haven’t lived up to the stock of which he was drafted. Quite frankly, it hasn’t lived up to that of being a draft pick whatsoever, let alone the first round.
Cine was selected 32nd overall after the infamous trade-down with the Detroit Lions, the first major move by the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah-led regime that had the majority of Vikings fandom scratching their heads, especially since there were seemingly slam-dunk easy picks available at their original 12th spot with names such as Kyle Hamilton, Jordan Davis, and Jameson Williams just to name a few.
Original reports of Cine’s performance in his rookie-year offseason activities, as well as the lack of impact in the preseason and notable lack of snaps in the first couple of games of his rookie year, led to some skepticism of Lewis Cine immediately as he was beginning his career as an NFL player. Patience was aplenty, however, as it’s not like everyone in their rookie year is an immediate difference-maker. It was widely accepted that Cine was a very raw prospect that the Vikings wanted to age like a fine wine, given his success with his National Champion Georgia Bulldogs.
One thing that definitely didn’t help was a complete compound fracture of his lower left leg in the Vikings’ Week 4 matchup across the pond in a London Game against the New Orleans Saints in 2022. It’s not as documented since he’s not a star in the league, but his general recovery from the injury was nothing short of remarkable. There were even reports early last offseason that Cine was “flying around” and “looked more explosive” just eight months after the injury, according to special teams coordinator Matt Daniels.
Despite the glowing reviews in May, Cine would only be rewarded for his efforts with eight total defensive snaps in 2023, where he recorded just a single tackle on New Year’s Eve in the whomping given to Minnesota by the border-rival Green Bay Packers, according to Pro Football Reference. That tackle was his first and remains his only career NFL stat to this point, though it may be worth mentioning that his eight snaps in 2023 were six more than his two snaps in 2022. Profit is profit!
Cine did seem to be somewhat of a “core” member of the special teams unit, however, as he saw 84 reps of action in 2023, or 48% of the Vikings special teams snaps. Sounds a lot better when he only has ten career NFL snaps at his natural position and side of the ball, but it doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of what teams expect out of their ever-valuable first-round selections.
His catastrophic leg injury is coming up on its two-year anniversary, so using that setback as an excuse for a lack of impact to this point has grown staler and staler, and Lewis Cine knows. He was asked about the gravity of his third career training camp just a couple of days ago:
This is huge. This is huge for me, on a personal note. I think I really gotta show out…and prove why I should be here, and why I deserve to be playing in the NFL.
Lewis Cine
He was then asked why he feels like he needs to “prove” that he belongs in the league since he was a first-round draft pick just two seasons ago:
Just because you’re drafted in the first round doesn’t mean you’re just handed anything. You gotta understand that like, these are jobs. [It’s] unfortunate that I broke my leg, that’s long behind me, right? And I got the opportunity to learn a defense and not be rushed where something bad could happen again. So now I just have to use this opportunity to show, ‘hey, alright, like, I haven’t lost a step. I’m still the same Lew you guys drafted.’
Lewis Cine
The interviewer wanted to confirm, asking if Cine is “positive” he hasn’t lost a step. Cine had a look in his eye while responding, almost taking it personally: “I have not lost a step.”
The organization knows, the fans know, and most importantly, Lewis Cine knows: 2024 is make-or-break for him, not only as a Viking but potentially for his entire NFL career. Sure, there is a good chance that another NFL team would take a crack at him, but no team is going to give him an opportunity more than the one that spent a first-round selection on him.
It’s an uphill battle for Cine, not only because he’s already battled a career-altering injury but because he also has to make a name for himself in what is arguably the best safety room in the NFL with Harrison Smith, Josh Metellus, Camryn Bynum, and Theo Jackson. The one thing Cine does have working for him is that there aren’t many people walking the Earth who can promote versatility and find ways to use players in roles that are advantageous and complementary to their skill sets, like defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
If Cine doesn’t make it work in camp or in the pre-season, then his final “scene” could very well come to a close before the Vikings even kick off their 2024 regular season in six weeks at MetLife Stadium.
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