7 biggest takeaways from the Vikings stunning win over the Panthers

Wonnum has a bright future

After the Vikings selected D.J. Wonnum in the fourth round of this year’s NFL Draft, we began to hear him receive comparisons to fellow Minnesota defensive end, Danielle Hunter.

The comparisons seemed pretty bold at first since Hunter is a two-time Pro Bowler and he was just coming off of a pair of seasons in which he accumulated a total of 29 sacks. But the Vikings clearly saw some similarities between him and Wonnum.

As each week passes by this season though, these comparisons are starting to make a little more sense. Now, we’re not about to sit here and say that Wonnum is guaranteed to develop into a future Pro Bowl pass rusher. But he’s certainly on track to become a big part of Minnesota’s defense.

Wonnum really started to gain some attention when he came up with the game-clinching strip-sack in the Vikings’ upset-win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 8. Then on Sunday, the rookie defensive lineman blocked a Panthers field-goal attempt that would’ve put Minnesota behind by 14 points midway through the third quarter.

Wonnum is obviously still working on perfecting his technique as a defensive end, but his ability to come up with big plays when the Vikings need them the most is something that cannot be taught.

Just as they did with Hunter, Minnesota might have found themselves another stud pass-rusher with a mid-round draft pick.