Waynes worked his way up Michigan State's ladder

As the quarterbacks coach at Michigan State, Brad Salem has been working against Trae Waynes in practice for the past three years. Salem was in Chicago with Waynes when he was drafted 11th overall by the Vikings on Thursday.

Salem — the son of former Gophers coach Joe Salem — first saw Waynes when he was recruiting his high school teammate Melvin Gordon in Kenosha, Wis., and he has seen him blossom into an amazing talent.

"You know he had very good top-end speed," Salem said. "I remember it was the week before we went out and coach Mark Dantonio made a comment that: 'We can't have corners shorter than me. We have to have taller corners just because of the height of these receivers.' So when I saw him working out in his weight room that spring, he's just right over 6 feet tall and long arms and probably only about 155 pounds as a junior.

"Now he's about 187 at the combine or whatever. He's not afraid of contact, a physical guy. We require a lot of our corners as far as tackling and being part of run support. We play a lot of man and press coverage. He's going to be special in the NFL, he really is."

When asked to list Waynes' most memorable game, Salem couldn't limit it to one.

"I don't know, he had a big interception in the Rose Bowl," Salem said. "He had big plays against Baylor. You look at the offense he has gone against and the guys he has been challenged against and he's had a lot of big games. Really through his career he has had a lot of big games and been consistent.

"Against Penn State this year they kept throwing his way, and then he ended up picking off the pass at the end of the half to change that game around against Penn State. He'll be a guy that will compete and rise to the challenge and loves playing man-to-man. I think he loves the challenge of being at the corner position. You need to be somebody that has short-term memory but you have to be really willing and have a desire to compete every play. He has that. A great work ethic and the physical traits, also. He's going to have a great career."

"I think based off the star-rankings, maybe two stars, had no offers," Salem said. "I think he had gone to the Iowa State camp before ours, and been offered by them. That was probably his first BCS offer. Then even when we offered he didn't get a ton of offers or anything, but he really connected with our players and coaches and ended up committing to us about a month later in July.

Waynes was coached by former Vikings defensive back Harlon Barnett, who is now the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Michigan State.

Barnett started 15 games for the Vikings in 1995-96. He was high on Waynes from the second the cornerback set foot on campus to attend a camp, wanting to offer him right on the spot. Barnett ranked Waynes with the best Spartans defensive backs he has coached and certainly the fastest.

It was also pretty well known that the Vikings rated Iowa guard Brandon Scherff, who was taken fifth overall by Washington, and Waynes on par with each other. General Manager Rick Spielman was asked which one he would take if both were available and said he probably would have had to flip a coin.

The Vikings know that they have to find a way to draft and develop better personnel than the Packers if they are going to improve in the competitive NFC North. Since Spielman started overseeing the team's draft operation they have produced higher-quality players than the Packers — but Green Bay's selection of Aaron Rodgers at No. 24 overall in 2005, after the Vikings had selected Troy Williamson and Erasmus James, was all it took to change the dynamics of their rivalry.

The Vikings' first-round selections since Spielman took over: Adrian Peterson in 2007, Percy Harvin in 2009, Christian Ponder in 2011, Matt Kalil and Harrison Smith in 2012, Sharrif Floyd, Xavier Rhodes and Cordarrelle Patterson in 2013 and Anthony Barr and Teddy Bridgewater last year.

In that same time, the Packers selected Justin Harrell in 2007, B.J. Raji and Clay Matthews in 2009, Bryan Bulaga in 2010, Derek Sherrod in 2011, Nick Perry in 2012, Datone Jones in 2013 and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in 2014.

Of that group, Bulaga, Matthews, Jones and Clinton-Dix were on the first-team depth chart last season. That's four of eight first-rounders. Raji was on injured reserve due to a torn biceps.

The Vikings had Peterson (at the start the season), Kalil, Smith, Floyd, Rhodes, Patterson, Barr and Bridgewater (at the end the season) all on their first-team units. That's eight of 10 picks.

As the Vikings look to continue to rebuild their franchise, with eight first-round picks over the past four drafts, it appears that Spielman is taking the team in the right direction.

• Lou Nanne, the former North Stars GM, said he thought the Blackhawks might have had a harder time beating Nashville if it wasn't for some bad injuries to the Predators. "They got a big break because [defenseman] Shea Weber got hurt and was out from the second game on, and he's essentially Nashville's best player. He was out of the lineup and you can't afford to miss a guy like that, if you're Nashville. You're not that deep where you can take your best player out, and they had [center] Mike] Fisher out for three or four games. And let's face it, Chicago is a good team."

• Gophers football coach Jerry Kill said that some of the team's premier victories last season, along with the appearance in the Citrus Bowl, have really helped recruiting. "It has been an impact," he said. "I think beating Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, all those things help you in recruiting, there is no doubt about it. I not only think it has helped our football program, but I also think it has helped our school and university. I think when you get on the national scene it is good for everybody."