Former LSU Defensive End Danielle Hunter Placed on IR by Minnesota Vikings

As the NFL kicks off this week, it will do so without one of its star edge rushers and former LSU Tiger. On Wednesday, the Minnesota Vikings placed defensive end Danielle Hunter on injured reserve.

The former Tiger will have to miss a minimum of three games with a neck injury that coach Mike Zimmer initially described as a "tweak." Hunter is currently in the prime of his NFL career, establishing himself as an All-Pro caliber talent and is currently on a $75 million salary.

Hunter had a productive LSU career but never quite lived up to his immense potential in college. In three seasons with the Tigers, Hunter recorded 142 tackles, 21.0 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, eight pass breakups, and two forced fumbles.

A third round pick by the Vikings, it wasn't until he reached the NFL before Hunter really exploded onto the scene. Since his arrival in 2015, Hunter has missed just two games and recorded 276 tackles, 67 tackles for a loss and 54.5 sacks. Ahead of the 2020 season, Hunter was ranked as the No. 40 overall player in the annual top-100 by NFL.com.

He improved his top-100 player ranking by 17 spots from the 2019 season. At just 25 years old, Hunter became the fastest player to 50 sacks in NFL history this past season.

“He’s a create a Madden player, everybody goes and makes a player on Madden, they make Danielle Hunter,” teammate CJ Ham said on Hunter’s top-100 video. “Ripped up, this dude’s got veins for days. Physically he looks like a freak and he plays that way too.”

Video couresy of our colleagues over at SeahawkMaven.