10 biggest Minnesota Vikings moments from the year 2020
By Adam Patrick
Moment No. 7
Hunter suffers a “tweak”
At first, it seemed like Danielle Hunter was going to only miss a few days of practice this summer for the Vikings after suffering what Mike Zimmer described as a “tweak.” Then those days turned into weeks and those weeks turned into months.
Hunter’s “tweak” ended up being a neck injury that required surgery to fix. Minnesota’s defensive end underwent the surgery which caused him to miss the entire 2020 season and the Vikings’ pass rush was non-existent without him.
Moment No. 8
Vikings trade for Ngakoue
With their top defensive end dealing with a significant injury, Minnesota decided to go out and make a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars to acquire pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue.
Ngakoue registered five sacks during his first six games with the Vikings, but his fit in the defense just felt a little off. Turns out Minnesota felt the same way as they dealt him to the Baltimore Ravens during their Week 7 bye.
This short experiment with Ngakoue ended up costing the Vikings their second-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Instead of the pass rusher blossoming into the franchise’s next great sack artist, he will just be remembered for being a part of one of Minnesota’s worst trades during the tenure of general manager Rick Spielman.