The way Captain Munnerlyn is talking, he’s planning to show up in Canton, Ohio, sometime in the 2030s for Xavier Rhodes’ induction speech.

“He can be one of the best in this game,” Munnerlyn said of his fellow Vikings cornerback.

Yes, Munnerlyn really does believe Rhodes someday could be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“Oh yeah, he can,” Munnerlyn said. “It’s on X. If he wants to take his game to the next level and be that guy, he can do it.”

Munnerlyn is mesmerized by the talent of Minnesota’s second-year man. The six-year veteran has developed into a mentor for Rhodes and spends plenty of time telling him how good he can be.

Munnerlyn said he hasn’t told Rhodes yet he can be a hall of famer; he’s starting with simpler goals, such as being all-pro.

“I’ll let him take baby steps,” Munnerlyn said. “First, he can be all-pro and then he can lead us to the playoffs. But I tell him all the time that he’s got the talent to be right up there with Richard Sherman, Darrelle Revis and Patrick Peterson.

“He’s got that kind of talent. I tell him he can be right up there with those (cornerbacks) who just signed those big contracts, and he looks at me like, ‘Are you serious?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, you got it.’ ”

Rhodes was taken with the No. 25 pick in the 2013 draft out of Florida State. It took him awhile as a rookie to find his niche, but he eventually became a starter, getting the nod in six of the 13 games he has played.

Rhodes is set to start at right cornerback when the regular season begins Sept. 7 at St. Louis. He’s flattered that Munnerlyn, who signed with Minnesota in March and is expected to be the starting left cornerback, is talking him up.

“That lets me know that he believes in me,” Rhodes said. “He sees that I put in the work. He sees the potential in me. I have high expectations for myself, and I see that he has the same for me.”

As for Munnerlyn telling him he can make all-pro, Rhodes doesn’t dispute that.

“I’m working at it,” he said. “That’s a goal of mine. We’ll see at the end of the season.”

However, regarding Munnerlyn’s plan to eventually be in his ear about making the Hall of Fame, that’s getting too far ahead for Rhodes.

“I mean, that’s in the future,” he said. “Right now I’m worried about the present, what I can do for the team. And when the time comes and the ballot goes, I hope my name goes on it.”

One would think it crazy to hype a second-year player — who hasn’t even started half of the games he’s played — for the Hall of Fame. But Munnerlyn doesn’t think so. He believes Rhodes has the entire package — 6 feet 2, 210 pounds, athletic and willing to work.

“He’s got all the talent in the world,” Munnerlyn said. “He’s big. He’s tall. He can run. He’s got all of it. … He’s a physical specimen. He works his tail off. He comes in here each and every day and does extra work. He wants to be great. I know he has the talent to be great.”

Rhodes’ athleticism was on display in front of 9,500 fans at a night practice early this month at training camp at Minnesota State Mankato. While covering Jarius Wright, he made a diving interception of a Matt Cassel pass.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer isn’t lavishing as much praise on Rhodes as Munnerlyn. Zimmer said it was a “great interception” but that it was “poor, poor position” on the receiver, adding that Rhodes shouldn’t put himself in spots where he needs to make such highlight-reel plays.

In last week’s preseason game against Arizona, Rhodes missed a tackle on a short first-quarter pass to Jaron Brown that resulted in a 51-yard gain. In the second quarter, Brown beat Rhodes on a pass down the left side for 35 yards.

It’s a job for Minnesota’s coaching staff. Rhodes has plenty of talent, but it certainly doesn’t hurt for him to work on technique.

“That’s the one thing that we strive for every day that we are out here is that consistency,” defensive coordinator George Edwards said when asked about Rhodes. “That’s the one thing (defensive backs coach Jerry Gray) and Coach Zimmer are trying to get in the secondary and trying to work, where we come out here every day and we know exactly what we are doing, technique-, fundamental-wise and where we want to be as far as location in different coverages on receivers.”

Rhodes knows he’s far from a seasoned product. That’s why he says he works so hard.

If Rhodes needs to hear another side, not every Minnesota player is talking him up as much as Munnerlyn.

“He definitely has what it takes (to be a star), but you have to make sure you put it all together and consistency is the key,” said wide receiver Greg Jennings. “He has all the tools; he has the size and the physicality. I mess with him sometimes because he drops a lot of potential interceptions. But it will come with time.”

Rhodes didn’t pick off any balls as a rookie. He was ranked 43rd out of 183 NFL cornerbacks by Pro Football Focus — not bad but hardly good enough to make reservations for this year’s Pro Bowl.

Rhodes was drafted by the Vikings after he gave up his final year of eligibility at Florida State. While he was growing up in South Florida, he said someone instrumental in helping him learn to play cornerback was Terrell Buckley, a Seminoles star 20 years earlier who played in the NFL from 1992-2005.

“Terrell Buckley taught me well as I was growing up,” Rhodes said. “Terrell Buckley was my mentor.”

The way Munnerlyn talks, expectations are Rhodes will end up being a lot better than Buckley. He didn’t even make a Pro Bowl in his 14 NFL seasons.

Follow Chris Tomasson at twitter.com/christomasson.