4 most disappointing Vikings in the Week 16 loss to the Rams

D.J. Wonnum. – DE

D.J. Wonnum was coming off a career game against the Bears. He was a beast in that contest, racking up eight total tackles and three sacks. He was a man possessed and that was exciting for Vikings fans to witness as the pass rush has been lacking with both Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter on the shelf.

The concern with Wonnum throughout his young NFL career so far has been consistency. While he has never had such a performance as he did against Chicago, he has had some good games before. It just seems those good games come in spurts, and then he disappears for a handful of weeks before doing it again.

Many fans were hoping to see a repeat performance against the Rams, or at least a similar performance. Los Angeles was missing left tackle Andrew Whitworth on their offensive line, so it seemed another solid game could be in the cards for Wonnum.

While hopes were high, Wonnum was pretty quiet on the day. He had just three tackles with no sacks or tackles for a loss. The high-energy, high effort player that we saw against the Bears, didn’t exist and the Vikings pass rush was pretty much null and void all game long.

Wonnum is a talented young pass rusher, but he’ll never ascend to the levels of Griffen or Hunter if he can’t play at a consistent level.