Thielen snubbed, Hunter and Smith selected to the 2018 All-Pro team

The top two players on the Minnesota Vikings defense were selected to the All-Pro Second-Team by the Associated Press for their play out on the field during the 2018 season.

It’s not a crazy statement to make that the 2018 season was a big disappointment for the Minnesota Vikings. Not even making it into the playoffs is not something that was envisioned by many for the Vikings this year.

But despite their failures, there are still plenty of positives to take away from Minnesota’s 2018 season. Especially when it comes to some of the individual performances displayed out on the field by a handful of Vikings players this year.

Two members of Minnesota’s roster were even selected as All-Pros by the Associated Press for their play on the field in 2018.

On Friday, the AP revealed their choices for this season’s All-Pro teams and Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter and safety Harrison Smith were both selected as members of the All-Pro Second-Team.

For Hunter, it’s his first ever selection to an AP All-Pro team and it’s very well deserved. The 24-year-old defensive end finished his 2018 campaign with 72 total tackles, 14.5 sacks, and 19 hits on the quarterback (all career-highs).

This is the second-straight AP All-Pro team selection for Smith as he was chosen for their First-Team in 2017. The Minnesota safety is the clear leader of the team’s defense and he ended this season with 84 total tackles, six pass breakups, three interceptions, three sacks, two fumble recoveries, and one forced fumble.

Not appearing among the AP’s selections for either team this season was Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen.

Despite hauling in 113 passes for 1,373 yards and nine touchdowns this year, Thielen was not among the four receivers chosen by the AP for this season’s All-Pro squads. Instead, the AP went with Michael Thomas, DeAndre Hopkins, Julio Jones, and Tyreek Hill as their selections.

Did Thielen deserve to be among the AP’s four All-Pro receivers this season? Probably, but it’s not like the guys that were selected didn’t have very impressive performances in 2018 too.