Two defensive ends, 16 games per regular season. Over the course of the 2010s, there were 320 available starts for the Minnesota Vikings at the defensive end position — 299 of them were made by four players.
Yes. Only four.
Jared Allen and Brian Robison brought the decade in at the raucous Metrodome. Allen passed the torch to Everson Griffen in 2014 when the team played at TCF Bank Stadium. Griffen and Robison groomed a raw rookie named Danielle Hunter in 2015. And after Robison’s release in 2018 and Griffen’s apparent departure in free agency this past March, Hunter is the man who will carry the Vikings’ edge-rushing legacy into the 2020s at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Despite being the dominant statistical force on the Vikings’ defensive line the last two seasons, Hunter has never carried responsibility like this; stepping in for a decade-long staple as the new emotional leader, a phrase which hardly does Griffen justice. Replacing Griffen is replacing an adrenaline shot. Replacing Griffen means running around on game day like you just chugged a 5-Hour Energy. Replacing Griffen means NSFW pre-game speeches.
Hunter has 29 sacks over the past two seasons and is off to one of the greatest starts of any 25-year-old in league history with 54.5 sacks after spending his first two seasons as a reserve. After a five-year learning period soaking up wisdom from sparkplugs Griffen and Robison, all eyes are now on Hunter.
“When I first came it was [Griffen] and B-Rob. I was mostly watching,” Hunter said Wednesday on a Zoom call with reporters. “Coach Andre [Patterson] sat down with me and told me to watch these guys and they’ve been in the league for six-plus years, and I tried to implement things they’ve done on the field into my game. Both of them sat down and they talked to me about what to do in certain situations and kind of tried to make me figure out the type of player I am. I’ve done things that both of them have taught me to do, but throughout the years I’ve kind of figured out what kind of player I am.”
A pretty good one.
The former LSU Tiger was a ball of clay when he came to the Vikings as a third-round pick, ready to be molded by defensive line coach Andre Patterson and the Vikings’ established ends. Hunter had no idea how to use leverage to his advantage or efficient rush lanes to get to the quarterback. Patterson texted him after the draft and told Hunter he could make him a star. Now the sixth-year pro is a two-time Pro Bowler, yet to this day head coach Mike Zimmer insists there are a couple technical aspects Hunter could improve on that would take him to an unstoppable level — if he’s not already.
The softer-spoken Hunter may not mirror the wild man persona embodied by his predecessors.
Allen’s mullet, Robison’s evolving hairstyles and Griffen’s non-stop motor (that made him a Mic’d Up legend) endeared them to the fan base. Hunter earns their respect through sheer dominance. He’s the last one to be seen goofing around in the locker room, preferring his quiet corner locker near the showers that allows him to slip in and out unnoticed. That laser focus will serve Hunter well in his next act, where the pupil becomes the teacher. It’s unclear who, exactly, he’ll be teaching, though. Presently, the Vikings lack depth at defensive end.
Ifeadi Odenigbo is in line to potentially start opposite of Hunter after emerging in 2019 in a rotational role. Veteran Eddie Yarbrough was signed late last season as an extra body, and veteran Anthony Zettel was acquired in free agency to provide some experience. Despite having five seasons, three playoff appearances and an All-Pro designation under his belt, Hunter is younger than all three.
There’s a good bet the Vikings look to the draft to add new faces to their defensive line room. Rarely has the position been considered a dire draft need.
“I learned a lot from those guys and I’ll definitely pass along what I’ve learned from them to the other guys in the group and the new guys that are coming in,” Hunter said. “I definitely see myself as turning into the leadership role of passing on the knowledge of what I’ve learned and teaching the younger guys that we get, or the people in the future that we get, the roots and the fundamentals of becoming a good defensive end or defensive lineman.”
The Vikings’ defensive shakeup goes beyond the defensive line. Corners Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander are all on new teams, as are safeties Andrew Sendejo and Jayron Kearse. Hunter says he understands the business aspect of his profession, and that Patterson — now the team’s co-defensive coordinator with Adam Zimmer — will have to play a part in reinventing the Vikings defense that had half a decade of remarkable continuity.
“You’re not going to keep everybody forever,” said Hunter. “I turn to my coach Andre Patterson. He has a plan, him and Zim have a plan on developing the new defense that we have.
“It’s about how [Patterson] takes the time, and what I see happening is him sitting down and taking the time to put every player in a good position to make a play. That’s what I’ve noticed about him since I came as a rookie in 2015, so I would expect there to be a lot of plays where players are going to be in the best position for them to make plays, whether it’s Harry (Harrison Smith) or (Anthony) Barr or E.K. (Eric Kendricks) or the defensive line giving them time to rush and all that stuff.”
Hunter anticipates a greater teaching role, but he’s still soaking up information himself. Remember, he’s only 25. He may play more at right defensive end, which could provide an extra challenge against better tackles. It’ll be hard for Hunter to get many reps this spring with the Coronavirus pandemic restricting offseason workouts, but he says he’ll be adding some new moves to his repertoire once he’s able to rush the quarterback again.
“Every year you just start over again, and it becomes easier and easier to start over. But you’ve got to make sure you sharpen those tools first before you move on to the, ‘OK, what move am I going to try to do this year or what run move am I going to try to this year.’ Just simple stuff like that. I was at the Pro Bowl and I talked to a whole bunch of the pass rushers and all that. Chandler Jones, Za’Darius Smith. … Chandler, he said he saw me using moves, and I said I saw him using moves, and I said once I get back into my form, my pass-rushing form, I’ll try some of those.”
