4 Vikings players Brian Flores will want to keep in 2023

Danielle Hunter – DE/OLB

Danielle Hunter was a popular name to be traded this offseason for the Vikings. The team doesn’t have many draft picks and Hunter is the one player who could’ve potentially netted them a decent return.

Adding to the speculation was the fact that he just wasn’t used correctly in Ed Donatell’s system. Far too many times Hunter was asked to drop into coverage, wasting his elite pass-rushing ability. That won’t happen in Flores’ scheme.

Flores does utilize a base 3-4 front. At first glance, this would make it seem like once again Hunter will be playing out of position. That’s not the case.

Flores mixes up his fronts quite often and when he was in charge at Miami there were plenty of times the Dolphins had six defenders crowding the line and Emmanuel Ogbah was one. The difference with Ogbah was that while he was lined up outside he still kept his hand in the dirt, which is where Hunter thrives.

Flores will allow Hunter to do what he does best, and create ways to keep him one on one with a tackle, allowing him to destroy quarterbacks on a weekly basis.

While Hunter did have a nice season stats-wise in 2022, those numbers should be vastly improved with a defensive coordinator who will use his talents properly.