Danielle Hunter: The quiet storm waiting to wreak havoc on the rest of the NFL

Entering what will be his third season with the Minnesota Vikings, the defensive end will likely have a larger role in 2017.

When the Minnesota Vikings drafted him in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft, defensive end Danielle (pronounced duh-neal) Hunter was coming off of a junior season at LSU in which he only had a total of 1.5 sacks.  Now after two seasons in Minnesota, Hunter already has 18.5 career sacks and four games in which he finished the day with at least 1.5 sacks.

Since 1985, only Keith Millard and Kevin Williams registered more sacks than Hunter in their first two NFL seasons with the Vikings. Most recently, he was named to NFL.com’s All-Under-25 Team.

The scariest thing about Minnesota’s young defensive end may be that he has not even reached the peak of his potential. Coming out of LSU, Hunter was considered as a pretty raw prospect and a player who still had a lot to learn when it came to rushing the passer.

"“There is no doubt he’s a physical specimen with considerable upside, but he was nowhere near ready to come out of LSU. He still has to learn how to play football.”– Mike Mayock, NFL Media"

But Minnesota obviously saw something in the defensive end and decided he was worth using a third-round pick on. So far, so good as Hunter’s progression continues to ascend into the clouds.

In 16 games with the Vikings in 2016, the defensive end finished with 54 total tackles, 12.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery for a touchdown. Oh and by the way, Hunter was still able to accumulate all of these totals despite the fact that he did not start a single game for Minnesota last season.

Minnesota Vikings

A bunch of his early success is due him being able to learn under the teachings of Vikings defensive line coach Andre Patterson. When Mike Zimmer was hired as the team’s head coach in 2014, he added Patterson to Minnesota’s coaching staff and it has turned out to be one of his best hiring decisions in his time with the Vikings.

During Patterson’s three seasons in Minnesota, he has helped turn Everson Griffen into a household name, he has used Brian Robison’s versatility to the Vikings’ advantage, and he has helped Hunter get on the path to be a future NFL superstar.

Despite Minnesota signing Robison to one-year extension recently, Hunter should see an increase in his snaps during the upcoming season. It would seem like the Vikings would be doing their defense a disservice if they did not do their best to get him on the field as much as possible in 2017, especially for prime pass-rushing situations.

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With Hunter still only being 22-years-old, Minnesota can afford to have some patience with the defensive end’s progression. But if his first two years are any indication, the Vikings are not going to have to wait much longer before Hunter establishes himself as one of the next great defensive lineman in the franchise’s history.