5 most clutch Minnesota Vikings players on the 2020 roster

Which current Minnesota Vikings are the most clutch?

Foremost, this is not an opinion piece or based on any sort of eye-test. This is based on the numbers produced by those included from the Minnesota Vikings current roster.

Specifically, this metric is defined by fourth quarter performance. Clutch moments orchestrated by a team or player can certainly occur in the third quarter of a game. But the fourth quarter is where the rubber hits the road.

Vikings players actually haven’t had as many opportunities during these clutch situations in recent history.

In the last five years, Minnesota has played in the fewest number of games in the NFL that were decided by seven or fewer points. Since 2015, the team has only participated in 28 matchups in which the final score margin was within seven points. As a comparison, the Seattle Seahawks have been apart of 46 such games in the last five years.

In the last handful of years, the Vikings either win or lose in a decisive manner. Before we get to the top players included on this list, there are two honorable mentions who are necessary to disclose.

Danielle Hunter has accumulated 14 sacks in the fourth quarter of games since he entered the league (10th most in the NFL). But only 4.5 of these sacks have occurred when the score margin is within seven points. So for the purposes of this piece, Hunter would probably rank as the sixth or seventh-most clutch player on Minnesota’s roster.

Adam Thielen has been prosperous late in games (especially last January), but he has largely split targets with Stefon Diggs and Kyle Rudolph. Since becoming a full-time starter in 2016, Thielen has hauled in 68 fourth-quarter catches. That’s commendable, but it hovers around 20th-most in the NFL. Again, this likely due to the football being spread around to various targets.

Alas, let’s go over the best of the best for when it comes to being clutch in a Vikings uniform.