Hercules, Hercules, Hercules!

[HappyViking]

Young Vikings defender gets good news about his future
After an injury cut his rookie campaign
short in 2018, Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Hercules Mata’afa
appears to be closer to playing again.On Wednesday, Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Hercules Mata’afa appeared to announce on Twitter that
he has received medical clearance to return to football activities.
Mata’afa missed the entire 2018 season due to an ACL injury that he
suffered during the Vikings’ OTAs last June.
This
is great news for the former disruptive Washington State star who was
named The Associated Press Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, as well
as Polynesian College Football Player of the Year, after his junior
season in 2017.
Despite his impressive college career, Mata’afa went undrafted as
many teams struggled to find the perfect fit for the undersized interior
defender. Fortunately, this was a challenge that Minnesota head coach
Mike Zimmer was willing to take on.
In addition to having arguably
one of the most awesome names in football, Mata’afa showed a lot of
promise before declaring for the NFL draft. He finished his junior season
with 45 tackles (22.5 of them for a loss), 10.5 sacks, two forced
fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall
grade of 87.3, ninth-highest among draft-eligible interior defenders in 2018.
The Vikings lucked out after Mata’afa’s injury due to a new league rule that allows teams to place players on injured reserve without them having to clear waivers first.
Although the original post has been taken down, the 6-foot-2, 254 pound defender took to his personal Instagram page to express his gratitude to Minnesota for their support during his ACL tear, as well as the opportunity to stay and rehab at the team facility.
The Vikings should be excited to see what Mata’afa can bring to the
table during this year’s training camp and the promising future that
lies ahead for him on their defense that is stacked with talent.

[Guest]

Hope he can work out and at least contribute to special teams.

[Guest]

Curious where the Vikings want Hercules to play. 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:
Curious where the Vikings want Hercules to play. 

Looks like WSU mainly had him at DT, and did very well; one of the best in the nation.  Being 6'2'' and 255, it's hard to imagine him anything but an edge guy.  His video shows he's one of those high motor guys that just keeps attacking on both rushing and passing downs.

I'm sure Zim will be interested seeing him back this spring.

[Guest]

@HappyViking said:

@MaroonBells said:
Curious where the Vikings want Hercules to play. 

Looks like WSU mainly had him at DT, and did very well; one of the best in the nation.  Being 6'2'' and 255, it's hard to imagine him anything but an edge guy.  His video shows he's one of those high motor guys that just keeps attacking on both rushing and passing downs.

I'm sure Zim will be interested seeing him back this spring.

I was thinking they should try and stand him up and see how he would do in a traditional Mike role when we are in a base D.

[Guest]

Thats good to hear- and honestly I had completely forgotten about this guy - even though I was looking forward to seeing him play and how Zimmer would use him back before his injury.

[Guest]

@JimmyinSD said:

@HappyViking said:

@MaroonBells said:
Curious where the Vikings want Hercules to play. 

Looks like WSU mainly had him at DT, and did very well; one of the best in the nation.  Being 6'2'' and 255, it's hard to imagine him anything but an edge guy.  His video shows he's one of those high motor guys that just keeps attacking on both rushing and passing downs.

I'm sure Zim will be interested seeing him back this spring.

I was thinking they should try and stand him up and see how he would do in a traditional Mike role when we are in a base D.

i agree but i thought they plugged him in at SAM and moved him to DE after only a few reps

[Guest]

@Bullazin said:

@JimmyinSD said:

@HappyViking said:

@MaroonBells said:
Curious where the Vikings want Hercules to play. 

Looks like WSU mainly had him at DT, and did very well; one of the best in the nation.  Being 6'2'' and 255, it's hard to imagine him anything but an edge guy.  His video shows he's one of those high motor guys that just keeps attacking on both rushing and passing downs.

I'm sure Zim will be interested seeing him back this spring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvLEnRUdIxo

I was thinking they should try and stand him up and see how he would do in a traditional Mike role when we are in a base D.

i agree but i thought they plugged him in at SAM and moved him to DE after only a few reps

Thanks. I couldn't remember what they did with him before he got hurt. I remember looking up John Randle's height and weight when he was (un)drafted and they were nearly identical to Mustafa's. Not that this means anything necessarily, but I think both were very good college players who went undrafted because their sizes at their positions didn't translate well to the NFL. Randle ended up adding about 30 lbs.  

[Guest]

@Bullazin said:

@JimmyinSD said:

@HappyViking said:

@MaroonBells said:
Curious where the Vikings want Hercules to play. 

Looks like WSU mainly had him at DT, and did very well; one of the best in the nation.  Being 6'2'' and 255, it's hard to imagine him anything but an edge guy.  His video shows he's one of those high motor guys that just keeps attacking on both rushing and passing downs.

I'm sure Zim will be interested seeing him back this spring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvLEnRUdIxo

I was thinking they should try and stand him up and see how he would do in a traditional Mike role when we are in a base D.

i agree but i thought they plugged him in at SAM and moved him to DE after only a few reps

possible,  I remember being not sure of where he would play but that was about it.

[Guest]

I'm not sure Hakuna Matata™ can add any more weight...