6 biggest Vikings draft steals during the Mike Zimmer era
By Adam Patrick
2. Danielle Hunter – DE
Drafted: Third Round (2015)
Considering he had a grand total of 4.5 sacks during his college career at LSU, it was a little difficult to figure out what Danielle Hunter’s expectations were going to be after the Vikings used a third-round pick on him in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Anyone with working eyes saw it was obvious that Hunter was an athletic specimen. But his lack of production in college caused some to question how well he could perform at the pro level.
Well, it didn’t take very long for people to realize Hunter was going to be just fine in the NFL. After accumulating 18.5 sacks in his first two seasons as a situational pass rusher, Minnesota made him one of their starting defensive ends in 2017.
Hunter started all 16 games from 2017 to 2019 and during this time, he emerged as one of the premier pass rushers in the league. To understand how much of an impact he’s made for the Vikings over the last few years, just look up how terrible the team’s pass-rushing numbers were last season when Hunter had to miss the entire year due to injury.