If Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer were a hunter (which he is), six-year defensive end Danielle Hunter would be his prey—and a prized one at that. Zimmer, who has spent much of the offseason rebuilding his defense, knows that Hunter is the cornerstone, the one which when it was lost last season caused the defense to crumble. And he desperately wants him back this season.
Zimmer and his team’s general manager Rick Spielman drafted Hunter in the third round of the 2015 draft and they knew at that time he was a project—and labeled him as such. Hunter, with the help of the Vikings assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator, Andre Patterson, who coached the defensive line in 2015, made himself into one of the top players in the league in short time (an average of 10.