Three Vikings Included in PFF's Top 50 Players for 2020
Pro Football Focus has released its list of the top 50 players for the upcoming 2020 season, and three Vikings – all defensive players – made the list. Anthony Harris, Harrison Smith, and Danielle Hunter all cracked the top 50, but none made the top 25. Also, Eric Kendricks is notably absent.
No. 30: Anthony Harris
Anthony Harris has graded well every time we have seen him on the field, dating back to his final college play, and he’s only gotten better with more opportunity. Last season, he was finally a full-time starter for the Vikings alongside Harrison Smith, and he responded with the best coverage grade (91.6) at the position and the second-best overall grade (90.5). Harris has been an All-Pro caliber player and a true ballhawk in Minnesota’s secondary.
No. 35: Harrison Smith
Harrison Smith has been the player who makes Mike Zimmer’s defense go in Minnesota. Smith is the foundation stone around which every coverage shell the Vikings run can be built; he is the movable piece that allows everybody else to slot into the role to which they are best suited. His consistency at a position where play often fluctuates has been remarkable. He has never had a full season of play that earned an overall PFF grade lower than 75.0, and he has four seasons at 85.0 or above.
No. 50: Danielle Hunter
Somehow, Danielle Hunter is still just 25 years old. He had a career year for the Vikings last season, notching by far the best overall PFF grade (89.0) and pass-rushing grade (84.5) of his professional career. Hunter’s 97 total pressures (including the playoffs) also represents a massive jump in production, with 29 more than he’s ever had before despite the Vikings making it a game further in the playoffs the year that was his previous best. Hunter finally began to emerge into the player his sack totals suggested he had been for a while, and 2020 could put him even higher this time a year from now.
Analysis
On the one hand, having three players in the top 50 is an impressive honor. Just 23 of the 32 NFL teams have a player represented on the list, 14 teams have multiple players, and only eight – including Minnesota – have three or more.
On the other hand, the Vikings still have a case to feel disrespected by this list. First of all, it's interesting to note that all four Vikings players that were included on PFF's top 101 of 2019 (which was released after the Super Bowl) moved down from that list to this one. Harris fell from No. 12 to No. 30, Smith from 31 to 35, and Hunter from 37 to 50. Hunter's ranking feels quite low for a player who is coming off of back to back seasons with 14.5 sacks and is still just 25 years old.
Most notably, Eric Kendricks went from No. 14 on that list to not cracking the top 50 on this one. What gives there? I can understand moving Kendricks down slightly when going from a list based entirely on 2019 performance to a list projecting for 2020, given that last year was his first elite season. But dropping him out of the top 50 altogether doesn't make any sense to me. There's no reason to think that Kendricks can't sustain his excellence going forward.
Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, or Kirk Cousins also could've theoretically warranted some consideration for this list, but I don't think any of those three qualify as snubs like Kendricks does.
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