Mackensie Alexander to sign with Vikings, per report

The Miami Dolphins signed former Clemson cornerback and Vikings second-round pick Mackensie Alexander according to his agent David Canter. The move likely is a reaction to the injury of cornerback Trill Williams, who recently tore his ACL in the Dolphins’ pre-season opener versus the Buccaneers.

#Dolphins have signed former #Vikings 2nd round pick, CB Mackensie Alexander, per his agent @davidcanter

They recently lost CB Trill Williams to a torn ACL.

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 15, 2022

Mackensie Alexander was a standout for Clemson in college, receiving Freshman All-American honors, third-team All-American honors, and first-team All-Conference honors. The Vikings selected him with the 54th overall pick of the 2016 draft, and had a four-year stint with them before signing a one-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2020, then returning back to the Vikings and re-signing with them in March of 2021. Alexander is also a Florida native out of Immokalee High School and will be returning to his home state for his seventh NFL season.

More on Alexander

Mackensie Alexander was a high school standout at Immokalee High School, where in addition to playing football, he was ranked the No. 11 wrestler in his weight class in the state of Florida his senior year and ran track for Immokalee where he secured first place finishes in multiple meets. Alexander was a 5-star recruit and ranked the No. 4 cornerback in the 2013 class according to On3 Consensus in an absolutely loaded class that includes names like Jalen Ramsey, Tre’Davious White, Kendall Fuller ,Vernon Hargreaves III, and Eli Apple.

Clemson was Alexander’s school of choice where he immediately burst on the scene, becoming the first freshman cornerback in school history to start all 13 games for the Tigers. He was targeted 53 times during his redshirt freshman campaign and only gave up 20 competitions, and finished the season with a nine-game stretch allowing zero touchdowns. He followed it with a stellar sophomore season where he held every receiver he faced to under 100 receiving yards and zero touchdowns before declaring for the draft.

Mackensie Alexander didn’t see a ton of action at the start of his NFL career, as the Vikings had a lot of depth and experience in their defensive back room, but started 10 games for Minnesota during his four-year run with them. But in 2020 on the Bengals, he had his best season to date, starting 10 games with 54 tackles, six pass breakups, and an interception.

He returned to the Vikings in 2021 and had a rocky season, giving up five touchdowns and a passer rating above 119, but provides the Dolphins with at minimum some needed positional depth, size, and veteran experience.