Which former Vikings players will succeed the most in 2020?

Stephen Weatherly (Carolina Panthers)

Stephen Weatherly was a backup for most of his career for the Vikings. He did have a brief stint where he started six games in 2018 when Everson Griffen missed some time. In that span, Weatherly played quite well with a couple of sacks and 18 total tackles.

He showed he could be a complete defensive end who could stop the run in addition to getting after the quarterback.

Last year, Weatherly didn’t see as many snaps as he did in 2018, likely because Griffen was back healthy and Ifeadi Odenigbo began to emerge. Still, he managed to tally three sacks and 24 total tackles.

Weatherly signed with the Panthers this offseason and he should get a chance to start assuming he can fend off the rookie Yetur Gross-Matos. It’ll be interesting to see how Weatherly does in a starting role in a new defensive scheme.

He’s got those nice lanky arms that he can use to create separation between himself and the man assigned to block him. He’s already shown he can be a force against the run and he should have a pretty high number of tackles.

A season with six sacks and around 50 combined tackles certainly isn’t out of the question for this former Minnesota pass rusher.