Vikings Roster Countdown: No. 98 D.J. Wonnum — Contract Year For OLB

Wonnum has 15 career sacks, but that stat oversells his impact. This is a big year for him.

Author:
Will Ragatz
Publish date:
Jul 7, 2023 8:04 PM EDT

In this story:

Ahead of the Vikings' 2023 training camp beginning in late July, we'll be taking a look at every player on the 90-man roster, counting down from 99 to 0 (excluding the UDFAs, who we already profiled). For every player, we'll look at the best and worst-case scenarios and their realistic outlook for the upcoming season.

No. 98: D.J. Wonnum, OLB

Age: 25 | Size: 6'5", 258

Jan 1, 2023; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Minnesota Vikings outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum (98) prior to the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. — Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

A fourth-round pick out of South Carolina in 2020, D.J. Wonnum has had some big moments in a Vikings uniform. As a rookie, his strip sack of Aaron Rodgers sealed an upset win at Lambeau Field. In 2021, he had five sacks in two late-season games against the Bears on his way to an eight-sack campaign.

However, 15 sacks in three years is a deceptive stat when it comes to Wonnum, who was a starter in 2021 and a rotational player in his other two seasons. Many of his sacks have been unblocked takedowns or clean-up sacks created by good coverage in the secondary. His PFF grade was in the 51 range (60 is average) for his first two seasons before going up to 58 last year. Here are his ranks in PFF pass rush grade among players with at least 400 snaps:

2020: 75th of 81
2021: 68th of 81
2022: 76th of 88

Those stats provide some context on why this contract year is a big one for Wonnum.

Best-case scenario: Wonnum tackles a big step forward and establishes himself as an impactful rotational pass rusher, setting himself up for a nice second contract in Minnesota or elsewhere.

Worst-case scenario: He continues to be ineffective as a pass rusher and falls out of Brian Flores' rotation at outside linebacker in favor of players like Patrick Jones, Luiji Vilain, and rookie Andre Carter II. The best Wonnum can do next spring is a one-year prove-it deal for the minimum somewhere else.

Outlook for 2023: Wonnum is a reliable tackler who improved as a run defender last season, but the pass rushing productivity has never been there, no matter what the sack totals say. Still, he's just 25 and has the length and athletic tools (8.04 RAS) to be a factor this year. Wonnum should easily earn a roster spot and enter the season third or fourth on the OLB depth chart, but expecting a totally different player in year four seems foolish.

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UDFAs