Two recognizable former Minnesota Vikings pass rushers were nearly erased from Week 1, with Javon Hargrave producing a dud in his Green Bay Packers debut and Danielle Hunter disappearing in Houston's loss to Buffalo. Hargrave's flop hits a little differently because Green Bay just made him an NFC North problem after Minnesota had already moved on from the veteran defensive tackle.
Hargrave played 30 defensive snaps in the Packers' 39-22 loss at U.S. Bank Stadium and finished with one tackle. On 20 pass-rush snaps, he generated zero pressures. His 51.1 PFF pass-rush grade ranked 101st among 106 qualifying interior defenders, although his 69.2 run-defense grade was considerably better.
Hunter's box score was somehow emptier. The longtime Vikings star recorded zero tackles and zero sacks as Houston lost 36-31 to Buffalo, and he managed one pressure across 25 pass-rush snaps. Two familiar names, two almost nonexistent afternoons. Vikings fans shouldn't read them exactly the same way as they did before Week 1.
Javon Hargrave's dud continues a trend Danielle Hunter hasn't established
Hargrave started his lone Vikings season in spectacular fashion with two sacks against Chicago. Then the production dried up. He managed only 1.5 sacks over the rest of 2025 and finished the year with 3.5 sacks and six quarterback hits before Minnesota released him in March.
That doesn't mean Hargrave suddenly can't play. Green Bay's bet wasn't completely irrational, either. The Packers reunited the 33-year-old with defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, whose Philadelphia defense helped Hargrave become one of the league's better interior pass rushers earlier in his career. Minnesota simply decided that version of Hargrave was becoming harder to count on.
Zero pressures against the team that just cut him won't quiet that concern.
The roster consequences for Minnesota matter more than enjoying one bad Packers performance. Cutting Hargrave and Jonathan Allen cleared the way for an intentional youth movement inside.
The Vikings used the 18th overall pick on Caleb Banks and the 82nd selection on Domonique Orange, adding them to a group that already included Jalen Redmond, Levi Drake Rodriguez, and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. Minnesota's willingness to lean on that younger front helped make Banks become such an important piece of the 2026 defense before the season even began.
Week 1 didn't prove the rebuild is finished, but it was a pretty satisfying opening argument. Rodriguez recorded a sack, Orange helped stonewall Jordan Love on a critical quarterback sneak, and Minnesota pressured Love on half of his dropbacks. Dallas Turner added seven quarterback hits as Brian Flores' defense eventually overwhelmed Green Bay.
Minnesota’s young front delivered while Hargrave barely registered for Green Bay.
Hunter requires more restraint because there isn't a comparable downward trend yet. He entered 2026 after a 15-sack season for Houston. Buffalo also had a plan for the Texans' edge rushers, using quick throws, play-action, quarterback movement, and blocking help to keep Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. from taking over the game.
So, yeah, Hunter disappeared. It's also one game against an offense that actively worked to make him disappear.
Minnesota is far enough removed from Hunter's 2024 departure that his current production doesn't really validate or invalidate today's roster. The Vikings originally replaced him with Jonathan Greenard, who became a Pro Bowler in Minnesota before being traded to Philadelphia during the 2026 draft.
That trade opened the full-time door for Turner, and his Week 1 performance was a much more relevant development for the current Vikings than Hunter's goose egg. The path from Hunter to Greenard to Turner has become a multi-year roster transition rather than a simple one-for-one replacement.
That’s where the comparison between the two former Vikings starts to break apart.
Hunter was awful statistically after spending last season proving he can still wreck games. Hargrave was awful as a pass rusher after spending most of last season giving Minnesota reasons to question whether that disruptive version of him was still there.
Week 1 is nowhere near enough to bury either player. But if Vikings fans are wondering which performance is worth checking again in Week 2, it's Hargrave's. Minnesota already made its call on him, Green Bay immediately bet the other way, and the first head-to-head meeting could hardly have made the Vikings' side of that decision look better.
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