Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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3. 2015 draft class shining | by Craig Peters
The Vikings and Chargers play so infrequently that this will be the first opportunity for several major players on Minnesota’s roster to log significant time in the series.
Hunter and draft classmate Stefon Diggs were inactive when the Vikings welcomed the Chargers from San Diego in 2015. Eric Kendricks and Trae Waynes, who also were rookies that season, played 40 and 41 defensive snaps, respectively but neither started in the Vikings 31-14 victory.
Zimmer was asked about his thoughts on the 2015 class.
“At that point in time, we’re just trying to find the best players,” Zimmer said. “We were fortunate with Diggs, obviously. There’s reasons why he probably fell lower. Kendricks, we thought he was a good player, a little undersized, and Hunter had minimal sacks [in college]. You never know going into a draft. You know, [General Manager] Rick [Spielman] says he knows everything, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to be lucky.”
Zimmer said the players showed they belonged at training camp and during practices before game days.
“Kendricks showed up pretty quickly,” Zimmer said. “Diggs, you could kind of tell when he was going through camp and making some of the plays in camp. If I remember right, we didn’t play him for the first [three] games, but in practice every day, he was making plays.
“Hunter, honestly, I had a former player of mine, Greg Ellis here at the time, doing evaluations, and he said, ‘I think this guy is going to be like DeMarcus Ware.’ I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Then, when we played Denver, I think it was that year, [Hunter] was DeMarcus Ware on the scout team, and that really showed the things he can do.”