Mackensie Alexander

Early years

Alexander was born along with his identical twin brother Mackenro in Naples, Florida, to Haitian parents Jean and Marie Alexandre (their children's surname is spelled differently than theirs). He attended Immokalee High School. As a senior in 2012, he compiled 42 tackles and three interceptions, helping lead the Indians to an 11-4 mark and a berth in the Florida 5A title game, which they lost, 21-20, to Tallahassee Godby. He was an all-state selection as a senior in 2012 after he had 51 tackles, four interceptions, caused two fumbles and recovered one. During his career with the Indians, Alexander totalled 139 tackles and 10 interceptions. Following his senior season, he was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.

In addition to football, Alexander also wrestled for the Indians and ran track. In wrestling, he was ranked 11th in the state of Florida in his weight class as a senior. In track & field, he competed as a sprinter and owned a personal-best time of 10.8 seconds in the 100-meter dash. For the outdoor team in 2012, he ran a career-best time of 50.39 seconds in the 400-meter dash on his way to a first-place finish at the Collier County Athletic Championships. As a senior in 2012, he took gold in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.44 seconds at the Bear Run Invitational.

Regarded as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Alexander was viewed as the 7th best defensive back prospect in the nation, the 8th best player in the state of Florida and the 42nd best recruit in the nation. He was rated by ESPN as a five-star recruit and was rated as the fourth best overall player in the nation, as well as the second best defensive back in the nation and the No. 2 player in Florida. Scout.com described Alexander as "an ultra confident, big-mouthed player that wants to shut down no. 1 wide receivers and is capable of understanding the mental game better than any other prospect in his class". Alexander originally committed to the University of Tennessee in January 2012 but reneged when secondary coach Terry Joseph left for Nebraska two months later. Then, he took visits with Texas A&M and Clemson in the fall, then Mississippi State and Auburn in January 2013. After appearing to finally have committed to Mississippi State, Alexander committed to Clemson University to play college football in National Signing Day, becoming one of the most highly sought-after recruits in Clemson history and the highest-ranked Tiger signee since Da'Quan Bowers was No. 1 in the class of 2008.

College career

Initially slated to be in the mix in 2013, Alexander suffered a groin injury in the preseason and therefore was granted a medical red-shirt. Once Alexander got on the field, opponents found out why he was rated so highly coming out of high school. In 2014, he was named Freshman All-American and received honorable mention All-ACC honors as a full-time starter. As a redshirt sophomore in 2015, he earned third-team All-American and first-team All-Conference honors. He finished his collegiate career at Clemson with 44 total tackles (33 solo), 4 of them for loss of yards, 11 pass deflections and one fumble recovery.

Freshman season (2014)

As the first (redshirt) freshman cornerback to start all 13 games for the Tigers, Alexander posted 21 tackles, two of them for loss, batted down six passes and recovered one fumble in 766 snaps, which were the most snaps in school history by a freshman and the tenth most in school history by a cornerback. Opposing team's quarterbacks threw a total of 57 passes at receivers covered by Alexander, and just 20 of them were completed, with two touchdowns, none of them over the final nine games of the season. For his outstanding season efforts, Alexander was named Freshman All-American and earned honorable mention All-ACC honors.

Sophomore season (2015)

Alexander returned as a starter in 2015. In the preseason, Alexander was named to the Bednarik and Thorpe Award watch lists, as well as to the preseason third-team All-American by Athlon. Alexander had a stellar season for a Tigers team that went 14-1 and made it to the National Championship game in Phoenix, Arizona, earning All-ACC honors after shutting down every receiver he faced. He didn't give up a single 100-yard receiver or a passing touchdown during the season. He injured his hamstring against Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff Semifinal and tried to play through the injury against Alabama, but he aggravated it in the first half and didn't return.

On January 13, 2016, Alexander announced that he would forego the rest of his eligibility in college and declare for the upcoming NFL draft. "It was a tough decision, very difficult," Alexander said. "I enjoyed my college experience. It was fun and something I've been really enjoying, competing with my friend, my brothers. You grow a bond in college. This was definitely something I’ve been enjoying. We've had great coaching. I talked to my parents. I've had a great career and I want to keep getting better and chase greatness. I feel I did everything I could in college. I made a bunch of plays to help my team."

Professional career

Considered by many the draft's top lockdown cornerback, ESPN NFL Draft Insider Mel Kiper ranked Alexander No. 5 among cornerbacks in the draft and listed him at No. 22 on his latest Big Board, while ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay had him as the No. 27 overall prospect in the class and linked him to the Carolina Panthers with the 30th overall pick. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report projected Alexander as the sixth-overall pick in his mock draft following the college football regular season and pointed to the cornerback’s man-coverage skills, agility in the open field and overall instincts. During an interview at the NFL combine, Alexander said: "I'm the best corner in this draft class... if you look at my stats, my numbers, who I am as a person, who I'm competing against, I went against the best receivers in the nation. I went against more top receivers than anybody in this draft class, and I'm going step for step. I'm not just moving outside, I'm going inside. I'm playing zone, I'm able to blitz, I'm able to show my versatility, everything."

At Clemson's Pro Day, Alexander ran the 40-yard dash between 4.41 and 4.48 seconds (he said some teams told him they clocked him at 4.38), recorded a 37.5-inch vertical jump, completed the 20-yard shuttle in 4.21 seconds, and was timed at 7.17 seconds in the 3 cone drill.

Alexander was drafted with the 54th overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Mike Renner of Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked the selection of Alexander as the fifth best in the whole draft. On May 5, 2016, Alexander was signed to a four-year, $4.3 million contract with a $1.34 million signing bonus with the Vikings. He appeared in 13 games as a rookie on special teams and as a reserve before being placed on injured reserve on December 23, 2016.