11-08-2018, 06:03 PM
EAGAN, Minn. – The Minnesota Vikings refer to Danielle Hunter as “Create-a-player” because on the Madden video game he would be 99 everything. If you’re not of millennial age or younger, that one might go over your head, but the point is that Hunter excels in every category, from size to speed to quickness to smarts to drive. And the Vikings landed the NFL leader in sacks in the 2015 draft in the third round in part because they ignored his traditional statistics.
In 26 games at LSU, Hunter only picked up 4.5 sacks. If you haven’t heard this one before, you probably spit out your coffee because the Vikings’ star pass rusher has 37 sacks in 55 NFL games.
The Vikings took a swing based on Hunter’s athleticism and underlying numbers. At the NFL Combine, he scored in the 91st percentile in the 10-yard split, 96th in the 40-yard dash and 98th in the broad jump. During his junior year, the 24-year-old defensive end also had 13 tackles for loss.
Of course, not every big swing at a freakish athlete with good underlying numbers is going to end up being as good as Hunter, but the Vikings are using his success as a blueprint to find more under-the-radar players in the draft and undrafted free agent market.
“I think the system that we have in place right now, the cohesiveness with the coaching staff and if you look at the defensive line, for the most part they almost look identical,” general manager Rick Spielman said on Tuesday. “Stephen Weatherly, well, Danielle is a freak, but even some of the guys we just drafted this year and are on IR, they have certain physical traits and certain traits from a character standpoint that we look for.”
Few players compare to Hunter, but Weatherly has a similar stature to Hunter at 6-foot-4, 267-pounds and with a 4.61 40-yard dash, only 0.04 different from the Vikings’ young star. Weatherly’s 10-yard split was 1.59, which is 0.01 different than Hunter’s was at the Combine.
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/1...le-hunter/
In 26 games at LSU, Hunter only picked up 4.5 sacks. If you haven’t heard this one before, you probably spit out your coffee because the Vikings’ star pass rusher has 37 sacks in 55 NFL games.
The Vikings took a swing based on Hunter’s athleticism and underlying numbers. At the NFL Combine, he scored in the 91st percentile in the 10-yard split, 96th in the 40-yard dash and 98th in the broad jump. During his junior year, the 24-year-old defensive end also had 13 tackles for loss.
Of course, not every big swing at a freakish athlete with good underlying numbers is going to end up being as good as Hunter, but the Vikings are using his success as a blueprint to find more under-the-radar players in the draft and undrafted free agent market.
“I think the system that we have in place right now, the cohesiveness with the coaching staff and if you look at the defensive line, for the most part they almost look identical,” general manager Rick Spielman said on Tuesday. “Stephen Weatherly, well, Danielle is a freak, but even some of the guys we just drafted this year and are on IR, they have certain physical traits and certain traits from a character standpoint that we look for.”
Few players compare to Hunter, but Weatherly has a similar stature to Hunter at 6-foot-4, 267-pounds and with a 4.61 40-yard dash, only 0.04 different from the Vikings’ young star. Weatherly’s 10-yard split was 1.59, which is 0.01 different than Hunter’s was at the Combine.
http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/1...le-hunter/
